A male witch? Who agreed to this?
by GeneralBeyak
Summary: A male witch who has fought the Neuroi as an average infantry man in 1941 gets stuck doing experimental work until he is scouted by Minna to join the 501st (All rights belong to their respected owners) (if you don't like heavy topics then don't read.)
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

*Boom*

"Fuck that was close!" A private Commented. "Damn right private. But don't let it distract you." I respond while opening up upon the a group of infantry Neuroi, they were human shaped and we simple drones but could pack a punch, their fire power was one laser canon on their right arm and a blade on their left. And really easy to kill just destroy their head and bada bing bada boom they die.

After firing the last couple rounds in my clip I ducked back down to reload only for a Neuroi to jump on me. I managed to catch the blade with my rifle. Pushing the neuroi off I smashed the butt of my Lee Enfield into its head, shattering the damn thing.

Glancing up I see the Bren gunner have his head disintegrated from a beam. Reaching up I grab the grip and pull the trigger unloading the gun down range. I heard the tell tale sound of Neuroi being destroyed. "Private you alright?" I ask as another beam slashes across the trench line killing a couple farawaylanders. "Sir... I've... been hit... help me... please..." He says as I reach him. He was another 15 year old solider, just like me.

Now you may be wondering how a 15 year old became a Sargent, well it all started when I awoke in hospital, I can't remember anything before that and how would a 14 year old support himself, well simple join the army. That's what I did and now I'm stuck on the island of Hong Kong in the year 1941 fighting for my life for the fifth time that day.

"Private." I start to say before three Neuroi jump into the trench. Whirling around I stab one with my bayonet and shoot another with my rifle before it was knocked out of my hand by the final guy, lucky me I always carry a pistol, asleep, it's under the pillow, awake it's holstered on my right hip. Drawing the Webley Mk VI revolver, I end up in a hand to hand scuffle, which is bad because I'm at a disadvantage, the Neuroi are naturally stronger than a normal human but suddenly I felt more power flow through my muscles as I easily overpowered this Neuroi. I quickly finished it off with my combat knife.

Grabbing my rifle I go to the private again only to see a Neuroi about to stab him. "NO YOU DON'T BASTERED!" I shout as I hurl my rifle like a lance piercing it's head and killing it. "Private look at me, you'll be alright, look at me, you'll make it home come on." I say as I try to get him to respond... he doesn't and he never will respond to anyone ever again. "Sargent we have to pull back there are to many of them." A corporal yells as he destroys another one. "Alright." I say as I fix my helmet. "ALL MEN RETREAT BACK TOWARDS THE REAR LINES!" I shout out as I grab my rifle and a Sten Mk II before leaving. As I'm about to jump the trench and leave, I look back over the battlefield, all I could see was the corpses of dead Fuso and Farawayland men all of which had tried to make it to our lines, all of which had failed. "We better run like hell or we will die here." I comment as I grab a wounded Fuso infantry man. His leg was taken off below the knee. As I ran with him on my back I could see the dead and dying some calling for a medic other calling for their mama's some even praying to god.

I just ran past them, most would die before the doc's could look at 'em. Some had wounds like missing arms and legs, some were disembowelled other had lost half their head. It wasn't a nice sight it was hell, a hell that would stick with me for the rest of my life.

Upon reaching the final line of defence I set the man down, when I stood back up I got a lot of weird looks, I had no clue about it until I looked in a mirror. I had polar bear ears, POLAR BEAR EARS! I looked at my backside and saw a tail from a polar bear. Well I now know why I managed to over power a Neuroi. I was a warlock with the powers of super strength.

Days later I found myself on a ship headed for home once again this time with two Neuroi core kills and dozens upon dozens of Neuroi infantry kills. I was a crack troop now even though I was still fifteen and I knew that this hell would stay in my mind till the day I died, watching my best friend die wasn't something I wanted but it was something I got along with those Neuroi kills.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

The year 1944 and it was the same old same old. The same wall that I had smashed my face into for the hundredth time this week testing this piece of shy prototype. Now again you may be wondering, what happened in between Hong Kong and now. Well not much. My magic was discovered and I learnt to fly, I was also promoted to captain after the battle of Hong Kong and my time in South-East Asia where my magic was discovered by none other than Brigadier J. K. Lawson when he jumped into my trench during yet another Neuroi artillery barrage, after that I was sent to Brandon to learn to fly a striker. My personal one was a P-40N-1-CU Warhawk which I had modified myself after tinkering with it, it could now out preform the P-51 variants at any altitude and could go up to 800 km per hour quite fast if I say so myself but now what I'm testing is not my own striker but an experimental one that could theoretically reach 1000 km per hour yet I could only get it to 610 km per hour no matter how much magic I put into it. I once put all my magic into it that I actually broke it. It didn't go faster than 615 km per hour, pitiful.

*Smash*

Ah the sound of me face hitting the tree again for the tenth time today. "Fuck this!" I shout over to Hartmann, the witch in charge of this testing. "You want our witches to die out there or do you want them to actually be able to fly without worrying about why the ground approaching them so fast or why their engines just died!"

*Boom*

Now I go flying because the damn strikers blew up again. "You need to calm down, it is still in its infancy don't rush it." She states calmly while walking up to my burnt body, you could smell the stench of burning hair. Well I could feel it as well but still. "You think I'm going to fly this death trap again! No way in hell! I'm more willing to fly into a Neuroi nest without any magic or ammunition on a plane!" I shout in her face while putting out the fire that had claimed half my hair on my left side. It was clearly lopsided but hey nothing a hair cut couldn't fix.

"I'm going to say this once flying officer Hartmann that striker is a death trap waiting to be sprung. It's like a bear trap. No matter what I do that striker has too many quirks to fix or even look into and you want to do a live fire test. Let's stick to me slamming my face into anything at tree top level or lower." I say as I finally remove the strikers.

I finally get a good look at the damage to my uniform. My tunic is slightly singed while my shorts are still intact. Yes I wear to regular Britannian shorts. They were part of my uniform since Hong Kong. I hear more sizzling and I quickly put up my shield covering both me and Hartmann. The striker unit I just took off has now blown itself into ity bity pieces and had left a dark mark on the grass. "I told you it was a death trap!" I shout at her again. "Well we still have other stuff to test. Les go." She responds still unfazed about the fact that a 18 year old farm boy from the prairies had just about smacked her.

"This women is going to be the death of me." I mutter as I walk back into the hanger. I was well built lots of muscle that made me look a few inches shorter than I am at 5'7 but hey I'm not complaining, more power in a normal puch. It has helped me out a lot. Upon entering I notice a new striker there. It had no prop so I assumed that it was a version of one of the Karlesland jets.

"This is the Me 163 Komet striker version." Ursula Hartmann announces proudly. I deadpan "You mean the manned flying bomb right?" I ask. "Just because the actual aircraft has a tendency to explode at a moments notice doesn't mean this does." She sounded pissed, I look over to her, yup definitely pissed. "Fine I'll fly the damn thing." I say.

Upon launch I notice a problem. The damn thing was hard to control. It had terrible handling but it was fast, I was enjoying this rodeo until as expected it exploded and burst into flames. Yup now the striker I am in, is on fire and not working. Lucky me I had only gone to about 60 feet into the air.

"I TOLD YOU URSULA!" I shout as I fall. I open up my shield as I'm about to hit the ground, so instead I slam into my shield. "Ow,that stings." I comment as I remove the remains of the striker. I lie flat on my shield before I shut it off. "Ouch." I comment upon finally hitting the ground. I lay there as Ursula walks up. "Alittle help here." I ask as I hold up my hand. "No you blew up the only prototype!" She shouts at me while smacking away my hand. "Well maybe if you actually did your research instead of your test pilot then maybe, just maybe I wouldn't be laying here, on the ground in pain after another one of your failed experiments." I respond while sitting up. "Well there is someone who's here to offer you a position in a new unite." She states as she enters her thinking pose, a hand on her hip and one cupping her chin while she looks down on me.

"Oh no, no no no no. I know what that pose means, it means you want me to experiment more, and I am not meeting anyone while I'm dressed like this." I say as I gesture towards my dishevelled uniform and singed hair. "Well she won't be arriving until tonight so you have the afternoon off." She responds. As soon as she said this I was gone to the barber. After visiting him for a hair cut I went to the supply office for a new uniform exclouding the the beret and wedge.

The time I got back to my room was around 2000 hours and changed into the the new uniform and placed my beret on my head. Once that was done I grabbed a bottle of Canadian whiskey and poured myself a glass. Downing it, I poured another before sitting down in my arm chair. I nursed this glass for the next hour before I heard a knock at the door. "Come in." I say as I stand up and finish my glass.

In walks a Major from the Imperial Fuso Navy. I snap to attention with a sharp salute. "No need for that here solider. This is your quaters." She says. "Oui madam." I respond out of habbit. "I've read your file, you have a very interesting history." She speaks while reading my file. "Woke up in a hospital at the age of 14 with no memory and immediately joined the military. Fought on Hong Kong before coming back to Farawayland and then you left for South east Asia where your powers were discovered. After that you were sent here for training then you were chosen as a test pilot because of your ability to fix problems in flight while maintaining your speed. Your powers are also extremely powerful. Your abilities are reinforcement and aura sense. Both extremely effective powers." "I know you're here for more than to tell me about my history. What do yo want from me." I state.

"I'm offering to you the choice to join the 501st joint fighter wing." She said. "Do you really think that I want to leave the safety of Brandon to go off to some far away place and fight where do I sign up." I say with my voice dripping with sarcasm. "Great now we just have to make a stop over in Fuso before we get to Britannia." She said extremely cheerfully. Aperently sarcasm doesn't exist in Fuso. "Well I'll agree as long as I can experement on my striker and I don't have to fly anymore of Ursula's damn exploding experiments." I say because I saw an out from all of Ursula's experiments.

It took a couple days but I was soon leaving from Vancouver harbour aboard the Akagi. After sailing for a couple days and doing some test flights we landed somewhere in Fuso. Major Sakamoto, as I had learnt her name, had gone ashore with shore leave. I figured she was scouting someone. It was the third day in fuso and I had finally left the ship.

As I stepped off I pulled out my pack of cigarettes, upon placing one within my mouth, drawing out my box of matches and lighting up my cigarette, I saw that the major was standing at the gate. Shifting my Lee Enfield further up my shoulder, I walk up beside her.

"Waiting for someone?" I ask. "Yes, I am." She responded. Just then a schoolgirl jogged up. "So you're here, I told you that you'd change your mind, I'm glad that you decided to put your powers to work." "No, I..." "Don't worry it'll all be taken care of. I see to it that your enlistment and school classes are my top priority." The major continued after cutting the girl off. I just stepped off to the side to finish my smoke. "Hold on, you see I didn't come over here so that you could sign me up." The little girl spoke back. The major just laughs, she fucking laughs. I just followed them as they walked back to the Akagi.

"A letter from doctor Miyafuji?" The major finally broke me out of my train of thought. "That's right. I wanted to know how well you knew my dad." The little girl said. "Well I do owe him my life. Your fathers research is the reason I'm in the position I'm in now." The major responded after that I zoned out and thought about the letter I revived form said man. It read 'I'm aware of your situation even if you are not. Don't fear anything, you have a power inside that can destroy the Neuroi. Use it wisely. -Doctor Miyafuji.' What broke me out of my thoughts again was the girl saying the she would "Never help you out with your war!" "You want to head into a war zone only to find your father?" I ask without turning to look at her. "Yes, I will." She responded with conviction. "Welcome aboard, I'm also trying to find something." I state. "What are you trying to find?" She asks. "My past." I say before walking away.

The next day we were off I stayed below decks sharpening my bayonet and cleaning my kit, a habit from boot camp. After I knew we left fuso I went above deck for a smoke. Lighting one up I leaned against the railing gazing out towards the open ocean. "Hello. I came to talk to you and see if I could help." I heard the little girl say. "If you want to help, then you should see your father before going home, only if you chose to not join. If you chose to join, then stay in Britannia on base." I respond. "Have you ever seen combat?" She asks. "Plenty, more than I should have, I've had the blood and guts of my comrades all over my body, I've had to bury my friends more times than I could count on both hands." I respond after taking a long drag. "Luckily my magic was discovered and I could escape the life of an average infantryman. Then Ursula found me after training in a striker and then I ended up as a test pilot for her." "Wow. You've seen so many places." She commented. "Not really. I've only seen jungles, prairies and the enemy. Well Fuso now aswell But not much I've only seen that small town." I respond before turning around so my back was against the railing. "Why do you smoke?" She asks. "Simple, it's calming and also more readily available than Canadian whiskey." I answer.

We continue to chat and I learn that her name is Yoshika Miyafuji and she learnt about all that I could remember. Soon I realize that the sun is going down and so I head back to my room to sleep before the next morning I could work on my striker.

Upon entering my room I notice that my desk light was turned on. I quickly draw my webley Mk VI and point it infront of me. Glancing around I notice that everything else is in place. "Who's there?" I ask out into my room. No answer, I step in only to see out of the corner of my eye a black object. My reflexes kick in as I face the object and back up. After getting a better view of it I see that it's my striker unit placed against the door frame. "What the..." I say outloud.

Approaching my unit I notice that the engine was opened up for me. I look in and see everything was in place. I just close the door and get to bed, upon laying down I see a man appear from the darkness that was from behind the closed door. "Remember my letter." Was all he said before disappearing into nothingness. I fell asleep shortly afterwards.

The next day I saw Yoshika taking a heavy load of laundry so I stepped in and eased her load, by taking 75% of it. "I could see that you were struggling, so I'll share some advice with you. It doesn't matter how many trips you have to make, as long as it gets there on time and in one piece without any problems." I say as we walk down the halls. After that I helped her with cooking and mopping the deck. "Um check, one two, Miyafuji are you on deck wait for me there I have something I want to show you." The major said over the radio. "Show me?" Yoshika questioned. "I've got no clue." I respond with a shrug. Only to see the elevator being used. As the major came up in her striker. I gave off a short whistle before saying. "Is that a A6M3a model 22?" "Why yes it is." She answers. She quickly goes through all the protocols to launch. I watched as she launched and flew around the carrier group a few times. Yoshika simply was amazed.

When the major landed she ran up to her and exclaimed "Major Sakamoto" "what do you think?" The major Asked. "That was so amazing, you were flying around so fast all over the sky it was like you were a bird." Yoshika said full of excitement. Then the major laughed. "A bird huh, but birds aren't nearly as fast as we are, we're part of the 501st, we're the strike witches." "I've heard about them." I comment while Yoshika was in her own little world. "And our magic broom is right here, you're looking at the striker invention of none other than doctor Miyafuji." The major continued. "My dad invented these." Yoshika said surprised. "The invention of the striker unit made it possible for us to finally fight back against the Neuroi. Without your fathers invention the world would be completely destroyed by now. The entire human race owes doctor Miyafuji a huge debt of gatitude." The major continued. "Wanna try it on? Your father was the one who invented it after all. It's not going to bite you." "Unless it was Ursula who invented this version." I comment as Yoshika reaches out and touches it. "I think I'll pass" Yoshika says. "I see." Comments the major. "I understand the work my dad was doing, but, I won't help this war." Yoshika responds. The major just nods.

"Hmm I still can't see it." Yoshika said. "Britannia is still half a day away atlest. Patience Miyafuji." Responds The major as Yoshika spins around to face the major. "But I e already been on this ship for over a month!" Yoshika exclaims. "You and me both." I say back before I zone out. Until the Major yells "STATIONS!" With that I scramble for meh striker. Reaching the hanger I kick off my shoes and slip into my striker while grabbing my two Vickors K machine guns loaded with 1000 rounds solids bull rounds and no tracers.

"Alright Captain Morrison ready for launch." I spoke to the control tower followed closely by Major Sakamoto. We both launch and climb rapidly. The fighters broke upon the Majors orders. I fly around the Neuroi firing off rounds trying to find the core the old fashioned way. "Did you damn alien." I say as the major slices off a wing before being shot at.

I work my way along the top and start chipping away at the armour. I watch as two A5M4's get shot down. I continue to try to find the core. I glance at the carrier to see Yoshika trying to fly a striker. She makes it airborn thank god. She quickly puts up a shield to block a laser attack. She and the major quickly start talking and soon the major was flying down towards me.

*click, click, click*

the sound everyone hates. The out of ammo sound. I quickly fly in and bash the stock of the Vickors into the Neuroi making holes in the armour, I the switch them out for my Lee Enfield. I fly back firing a couple rounds and hoping that they make it through.

I watch as the major draws it's fire while Yoshika dives on it and exposes the core on her second try only for another shot from someone else to take it out. I float up towards the Major as she holds Yoshika bridal style. I look over my shoulder to see some of the 501st flying towards us.

"As of today the 501st has two new members. Yoshika Miyafuji and Stefan Morrison." The Major announces. "I'm Yoshika Miyafuji And I'm happy to be here." Yoshika says. "I'm Stefan Morrison, pleasure to meet you all." I say snapping to attention and giving a quick salute.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

The next morning I started out the day at about 0400 with squats, push-ups, chin-ups, crunch's, and a few laps around the base which ended at about 0530 allowing me a quick shower before breakfast.

Upon entering I noticed that there was no one else inside. I got undressed and showed before I heard voices. "Did you hear about the male witch?" "Yea I heard that he was on Hong Kong before this." "What, no way!" "My cousin was there, he said that he was carried to an aid station by him. Apparently his familiar is a polar bear." "What's that?" "I don't know, must be some animal native to Farawayland." The chatter then died off as they walked away. 'Seems like I've got some fans.' I thought as I continued to get dressed.

I was in and out in under 5 minutes so that left me with 25 minutes to spare. Walking out I went back to my room for a drink and to grab my rifle. Though that plan was thwarted by the major when she saw me heading back to my room. "Where were you? You weren't in your room or in the mess hall." 'Shit' I thought. "I was doing my early morning workout, followed by a quick shower." I respond. "Alright well the meeting is after breakfast." She told me before leaving. 'That went better than I thought.'

Opening the door a few things hit me at once or more accurately Yoshika hit me. She had been surprised by me returning to my room so late, and had decided to stand near the door. When I opened it she jumped right into me. From experience things that jumped at me were usually bad so I drew my webley before I comprehended that it was just Yoshika. "Yoshika don't jump at me like that! I almost Damn near shot you!" I say as she climbs off me. "Hai, sorry." She responded.

"Anyway, why were you in my room?" I asked as we walked down to the mess hall together. "Well the major asked me to keep a look out for you as she wanted to tell you something." "Was it by any chance when the meeting is?" "Hai, that's it." She responded.

I soon found myself in the briefing room. I had managed to light up a smoke as I had gotten addicted. Everyone but the commander, Yoshika and myself were seated. Looking around I realized I only knew two people in the crowd. The first one was the major, while the second one was the glamorous Shirley. Then the commander clapped her hands twice and spoke. "Your attention please, good morning quick anouncement. In case you haven't gotten to meet them yet, these are our new recruits, Major Sakamoto brought them to us from the fuso empire and Farawayland. Yoshika Miyafuji and Stefan Morrison." "Thank you for having me. I'm looking forward to meeting all of you." Yoshika said with a bow. "If this is the frontlines and we have no reserve, then I can expect good pay right?" I asked only to be ignored.

"Miyafuji's rank is Sargent the same rank as you Lynne so would you mind getting her settled in." "Ah, okay." Said who I assume Lynne was. "And this is captain Morrison of the Farawayland armed forces. He was recently transferred here. And captain please don't smoke inside the buildings." The Commander said to me. I frown as I stub out my cigarette on the bottom of my boot. "Good, Now all the documents, clothing, rank insignia and identification is here." "Excuse me?" And there's Yoshika again. "Yes?" Commander responds. "I won't be needing this." Yoshika says. "Neither will I." I say while patting my webley. "This gun right here has killed more Neuroi than I can remember." "Well, I hope not, but you should keep it just incase you do." Commander spoke to Yoshika. "Sorry, no thank you." Yoshika responded. "Right." Commander said. The major laughed before saying that Yoshika fascinates her.

"That's it!" The girl with glasses said before storming out. "Well I certainly wasn't expecting that. I guess individual introductions will have to wait till later. You are now dismissed." Commander said before leaving, I started to follow her until i was cut of by Yoshika's shout of surprise.

Turning around I found that one of them was groping Yoshika. "Well fuck." I muttered. "A ha ha ha, you can never compete with this." Shirley stated while thrusting her chest upwards causing her *cough*assets*cough* to bounce. "Hi there, my name is Charlotte Yeager. I'm a flight lieutenant from United States of Liberion. But you can call me Shirley." She anouned while shaking hands with Yoshika. "Hi" was all Yoshika said in response. "You need to eat more if you expect to get bigger." Shirley stated while Yoshika looked down at her chest, by now I had reached Yoshika. "Nice to meet you. I'm Stefan Morrison." I say as we shake hands or in my situation her hand, wrist and part of her forearm. "Nice to meet you aswell."

"I'm so bored" and that was the girl that groped Yoshika she has now burried her face in Shirley's *cough*assets*cough* "I'm Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen. Suomus Air Force ensign. This is Sanya Litvyak, an Orussian Army lieutenant." A new girl joined the conversation while supporting who I assumed was Sanya. "Nice to meet you two." I responded with a smile though I knew they could tell that it never reached my eyes. "Francesca Lucchini, Romagna Regia Aeronautica ensign." The girl that was burried in Shirley's chest said. "It's Nice to meet you." I responded while Yoshika said "I'm pleased to meet all of you." "All right. That's enough of the introductions. Time to get ready for duty. Lynne, Miyafuji and Morrison will begin training this afternoon." The major said. 'Time to show them how well my striker can preform.' I thought as I went through the mental check list of all the equipment I'd need. "Ma'am." Yoshika shouted. "Excellent response. Lynette, begin by showing Miyafuji and Morrison around the base." Was what she got in return.

"Yes ma'am, okay." Lynne basically muttered. "I'm Yoshika Miyafuji. Thank you so much for helping me." Yoshika said. "Lynne you can just drop me off at the hanger. I need to get some maintence done on my striker, I fear Ursula tampered with it." The last part I muttered under my breath. "It's my pleasure. My name is Lynette Bishop." Lynne said in response.

After Yoshika and Lynne left, I stood infront of my striker. A tool box was stationed at my feet and I was busy lighting up. After finishing that I started to take off the panels to the engine and radiator. Upon opening the radiator I noticed a couple goose feathers. "Even an ocean away and those fuckers still annoy me." I state as I start removing them. Once that was done I set to work on enhancing the maneuverability so I could out preform any Neuroi I care across. Soon I got lost in my work.

What brought me out of my work was a cough from a Karlsland witch. "Who are you?" She asked. I look over my shoulder at her before going back to work. "Well I'm one of the new witches here." I state as I proceed to remove a slightly burned crumpled up ball of paper. "A male witch? Impossible!" She said. I didn't respond just activated my familiar. I could feel the ears and tail pop out. "What!? A male witch! Who agreed to this!" She shouted practally in my ear. "Well miss I was ordered here by high command of farawayland. Nothing you can do about it besides make my life a living hell, wait sorry that already happened." I ramble on. "I won't accept this. This is a female only witch squadron." She states. "Keep telling yourself that." I mumble as I finish unraveling the paper. It read 'say hi to Erica for me. Ursula Hartmann.' "Even an ocean away, she is like the damn geese." I comment absentmindedly. "Anyway, you know an Erica Hartmann?" I ask her. "Why yes I do. What do you want from her." She states while getting up in my face. I blow a smoke cloud into her face before saying. "Her sister wants me to say hi for her." "*cough*why did*cough*you blow*cough*smoke in my face!" She shouts at me. "Because miss. You decided to get up in my face. Now deal with the consequences." I respond.

I then turn back to my work and proceed to strip down the internal workings of my striker and then start to put it back together before I was interrupted by a new arrival "Trudy whatcha doing?" "Hartmann I'm making sure this man doesn't do anything!" "Hey hartmann, your sister says hi." I interrupt them, I toss the paper to Erica and proceed to place parts of the fuel injection system in 'Trudy's' hands. "Hold this will ya." I state before diving back to my work. I continue to rearrange everything inside of my striker before I take back the fuel injection system. "Looks like you're burning up. Maybe you should take a cold shower and get some sleep." I comment as her face is beet red. She starts to stammer, she stammers so much I couldn't catch what she said.

"You can run faster than that! Miyafuji! Tell me what you see in front of you!?" Major Sakamoto shouted at us, well more accurately Lynne and Yoshika. "The sea!" Was what she got back. Just then I reached the end of the runway for the twentieth time. "Lynne, tell me what's beyond the sea!?" again the Major. "Europe is, ma'am" Lynne responds. "Morrison what is the situation in Europe!?" She shouts at me as I reach the halfway point. "It's occupied by the enemy." I shout back. "That's right. It's up to you to regain that territory. The only way you're going to that is by training. Got it? Training, training, training! Move! What you need more that magical strength is physical strength!" She shouts at us. "Yes ma'am!" We shout back. "Good! Give me ten more!" she shouts at us. I tune out everything else as I proceed to put more effort into running.

"Two more sets!" She shouts at us while I'm finishing up the push ups. "I can't..." Was all Lynne said before she fell. "Me, neither..." was Yoshikas response aswell. Myself and the major sigh. "Girls if you can't complete these simple push-ups then how do you expect to win the war." I reprimand them. After that they went off for target practice while I went into the bush beside the base and took a smoke break away from everyone else.

"Next thing we need to do is get you trained on the Striker Unit equipment." The Major said while I stood off to the side preparing my Vickers guns. "Major Sakamoto, permission to assist our new recruits?" said the girl that had walked out of the meeting room during introductions. "Myself aswell." Said 'Trudy' "Permission granted and may I say I am impressed. Good to see you volunteering your time." The Major said. 'Trudy' just shot me a dirty look which I returned with a smile.

Once in the air the battle begins. I quickly latch onto the girl that walked outs six but then 'trudy' flew in from my three so I turned into the attack. Side slipping I dodge the shots before the major decided to join by attacking my six. She missed as I broke left shaking her easily. Latching onto the first girls tail again I gave a short burst that knocked her out of this fight, then 'trudy' flew in for a head on pass with her duel MG 42's I ducked under her fire and gained some more speed as I whipped around and onto the Majors tail. She tries to shake me but a quick burst from me and her strikers and lower back are covered in orange paint. "Well now this is a even fight." I comment as i preform a rolling scissors with 'trudy', both trying to win but neither her nor I could pull enough lead. I quickly leveled out and kicked it into high gear. I watched as I picked up speed. 700km, 710km, 720km, 740km, 780km, 800km. I pull up and over so now I'm inverted flying straight towards 'Trudy', I open fire at the same time she does. I dodge 90% of what was shot at me the other 10% struck my strikers and my face, as for her she took 50% of my shots. "I needed to shave anyway." I comment about the mess. "Is that really all you have to say!?" 'Trudy' shouted at me. "Not good match or demanding for a rematch!?" "Well I have to clean my striker, shave, wash my face and then proceed to check that everything is working in my striker so a rematch is out of the question." I answer while dodging Yoshika. "Watch it Yoshika, I'd rather not end up in the drink." "Sorry." Yoshika apologizes. "And possibly teach Yoshika to fly." I comment before I fly up beside Yoshika.

"Yoshika I'm gonna give you a few pointers, put your arms by your sides if you aren't carrying your gun, learn to fly straight first then try manoeuvres and finally don't look anywhaere but where you want to go unless you're shooting." I state while flying off to her side. "Hai, thank you." She respond while following my directives.

"Worn out already, Miyafuji? Well, it's your first day. That's to be expected. Though I didn't think your magic control would be so sloppy, you need to work on your baseline staminas, too." The Major said while hovering over the collapsed forms of Yoshika and Lynne. "And I suggest you start working on these things right away. Otherwise, you'll continue to be a nuisance. Honestly, I think you'd be better off going home." Said the girl with glasses. "Hahaha! She'a novice, Perrine. This is her first day. Don't be so hard on her." The Major responds. 'So that girls name is Perrine, eh?' I thought as I whipped the final bits of aftershave off my face before heading back to my room.

"Come on Yoshika keep in control. I want to see you be able to out manoeuvre Lynne by the end of this!" I shout towards Yoshika as she tries to keep on Lynne's wing. It was now the middle of the afternoon and she hadn't improved much. "Watch out Yoshika." I say as I narrowly advoid being rammed by said girl, I lost track of Yoshika for a minute and when I find her I see the commander step aside and Yoshika flies between her and the Major. "Yoshika what did I say about maintaining your altitude!" I shout as Lynne continues to preform at the peak of performance.

"Good work! You're done for today." Said the Major as she walked away. "Yoshika you have so much to improve that I don't even know where to start." I comment as 'Trudy' walks up. "Capitan Barkhorn." Lynne says. "Newbie!" she states while looking at Yoshika. "Yes!" Yoshika says with her usual tone when addressing superior officers. "Don't you realize this is the front line? Your skills in combat are all that matters here. Are you prepare to die?" Captain Barkhorn asks. "I should ask you the same captain. Are you ready to die, do you have any regrets any family waiting for you or maybe a boyfriend or husband?" I ask only for her to completely ignore me. "Well... I don't know. I just really wanna help people." Yoshika answers her. "The Neuroi aren't going to wait for you to imporve your training. So if you want to survive, I suggest you become stronger." Barkhorn said before walking away.

That night I was sitting at the end of the runway smoking. "Damn it, stuck again on the front lines." I mutter while falling backwards. "Sergeant Miyafuji, Captain Morrison!?" Lynne said while approaching. "Hi, Lynette." Yoshika answered. "you found my favorite spot here." Lynne stated. "I did? It's beautiful, isn't it?" Yoshika said. That's when I chipped in with. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." "Yes." answered Lynne. "I got in trouble again. I need to try harder." Yoshika said looking kinda sad. "I'm little jealous of you, Miyafuji." Lynne said just as sad. "But why?" Yoshika asked. "Your ability to keep trying harder and never give up." Lynne answered. "Wow! That's exactly what it says in my report card!" Yoshika said surprised. "I don't think there's anything good anyone could say about me.I just don't belong here." Lynne responded. "That's a load of bullshit." I state. "That's not true. I saw you. You're amazing!" Yoshika said agreeing with me. "No, I'm not really. Believe me." Lynne said trying to argue. "C'mon, yes, you are!" Yoshika said cutting her off. "Only during training. During actual fighting I'm a failure. I can't even fly." Lynne continued. "But if you could do it during training..." Yoshika said only to be cut off by Lynne. "I know it's hard for you to believe 'cause you're good at everything but I'm not you! Ah... I'm sorry about that..." Lynne said before running off. "Lynette! Wait!" Yoshika called after her to no avail.

The next morning we were all seated in the briefing room. Myself I was leaning back on a chair with my feet up on the desk. "We've receieved a report from the observation post. It looks like the enemy has entered the East Grid Sector 1-14. Altitude is higher than usual. To compensate we'll be changing formation." Commander said before the Major stepped up. "Barkhorn and Hartmann will be upfront. Shirley and Lucchini will take the rear. Perrine, you're with me." "The rest of you will standby at the base with me." Commander finished. "Roger!" We all responded.

Shortly afterwards we were at the enterance of the hanger watching them take off. "Wow, look at them go!" Yoshika commented while I just stood off to the side "Yeah, it's great..." Lynne said before she trailed off. "Is there anything we can be doing right now to help?" Yoshika asks. "Not get shot in the ass." I jokingly respond. "Maybe you can... but I would just get in the way." Lynne responds aswell. "Where are you going?" Yoshika asks as Lynne ran off. Glancing over my shoulder I see the commander walking up. "Miyafuji, may I speak with you for a moment?" She asked. "Ah... sure." "Britannia is Sergeant Bishop's homeland so she's sensitive. You're aware that Europe has recently fallen into the hands of the Neuroi, aren't you?" The Commander asked Yoshika. "Yes. Lynette told me." Yoshika responds "That's why this is so hard for her. You see? Britannia may be Europe's last hope. And the pressure becomes too much for her when defending that during combat." The Commander continues. "I understand." Yoshika answers. "So what about you? Why did you decide to join the Witches?" Commander asks. "Me? I wanna help people who are in need and protect them." Yoshika responds. "You know, that's exactly what Lynne said when she first enlisted. Never forget those feelings. I'm sure your desire to help everyone will give you strength." Commander said before turning to me. "And what about you Morrison?" "Myself? Well, a few diffrent reasons but mostly better pay and a safe place to sleep." I answer only for them to look at me strange. "What, I don't give a fuck about that 'for king and country' bullshit they have plastered everywhere." I say.

I spent some time sitting outside of the hanger waiting for the others to return and so Commander doesn't yell at me for smoking indoors when suddenly the alarm went off. Booking it to my striker I get ready to take off. I end up sitting there for about two minutes before the others arrive. Eila, commander, Lynne and Yoshika. "Lets go." I say as they start to get ready. Soon we're up in the air. "Looks like the enemy will be approaching from 3 o'clock. Eila and I will move on ahead. You three stay behind and provide backup, okay?" Commander states. "Right!" We all respond. "All right. We're counting on you." Commander says before she and Eila flew off to attack the Neuroi. "Miyafuji... I was actually really scared when I volunteered." Lynne said to Yoshika. "I'm still really scared. I know this may sound strange but I would've been more afraid if we just stay behind and not done anything." Yoshika responds. "That's what I usually do." Lynne says before something catchs her attention. "What's wrong?" Yoshika asks. "Look! Over there!" Lynne shouts while pointing at the Neuroi. "Shit, we gotta get ready to intercept." I command. "Neuroi?" Yoshika asks. "I'm afraid so!" Lynne answers her. "It's coming this way." Yoshika sates. "Thank you captain obvious." I respond. "I can't do. I can' hit it!" Lynne said while foreign shots at it. "Yes, you can! It's just like when you were in training." Yoshika said. "It's taking everything I've got just to fly and I won't have enough energy to control my shots with magic." Lynne said with worry in her voice. "Fine! Then I'll support you, okay? That way you can just concentrate on shooting." Yoshika said as she flew under Lynne and came up. "I'll work as your shield." I state as I fly infront of her careful not to bloke her shots. "Huh? What are you doing? Wait!" Lynne said as Yoshika connected with her. "See? Don't you feel more stable?" Yoshika asked Lynne. "Umm... well... yeah. Thanks!" Lynne said slightly uncomfortable about the position.

"Bishop, Miyafuji, the enemy is heading in your direction. You're the one we're counting on it at this point. This is your moment!" The Commanders voice crackled over the radio. "Right!" Myself And Yoshika said. "West-north-west wind... velocity 3... and speed... position... That's it! If I caluculate the enemy's future position after evasion and use that as my target..." Lynne said trailing off "When I give you the signal, I'm gonna need you to shoot with me." She comands. "Roger." "Okay, You got it!" Myself and Yoshika say respectably. "Shoot now! Hit it!" Lynne states. Yoshika one hands her 20 mm canon, I open up with my twin Vickers K's and Lynne fires off some shots which take out the Neuroi. Over the radio I hear. "Lynette, you did it!" And I hear Yoshika say "Look at that!" "Miyafuji, did you see that? I did it. That's the first time I've ever managed to help everyone and it's all because of you. Thank you so much!" Lynne said flying upwards and flipping over so she could hug Yoshika but in her excitement they both fell into the water. "We're friends, aren't we? You could stop calling me Miyafuji." Yoshika states while they bob in the water. "Then you can stop calling me Lynette." Lynne responds. "'kay! Lynne, right?" Yoshika asked. "Yeah, Thanks Yoshika!" Lynne answered. "If you girls want I could give you two a lift." I say floating just over them. "Of course" And "please do" we're their responses. "Alright one sec." I say as I fly a bit away before swooping down grabbing their hands and pulling them up and out of the water. Using some of my magic I toss them high enough into the air that I can catch them around the waist. "There ya go." I say with a big smile on my face and my cigarette hanging out of the corner of said smile.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

"IVAN NO!" I called out as I awoke from a nightmare. "Why, why have they been getting worse, I can still hear the lasers in my dreams that's still there when I sleep."

"Yoshika, did you hear? They're having Kauhava base mobilized for a missing child. Isn't that wonderful?" Lynne exclaimed from the kitchen. "I didn't know they did operations like that here. That's really cool of them." Yoshika responded. "And to think it's all just for one child." Lynne continued. "Of course, how can we save a country if we can't help one person? It's such a beautiful statement and makes me proud to be here." Yoshika added. "Yeah, I agree." Lynne agreed. "We can't save everyone. Doesn't matter what you do, someone always gets left behind." Barkhorn broke into their conversation. "I know what you mean Barkhorn... I've seen it happen and done it myself..." I trailed off into memory. "Wait, what do you mean?" Yoshika asks "Nothing. I was just talking to myself." Barkhorn and myself both said at the same time.

"Is there something wrong, Trudy? What's with the long face this morning?" Asked Commander as she approached Barkhorn who was seated opposite to me. "You haven't even touched your food." Stated Hartmann as she sat down beside her. "I had two. There was a lot of it." Barkhorn shoots back. "That's what people say when they're upset and don't wanna eat. I know something's wrong now." Hartmann responds. All the while I'm looking down at my food with bags under my eyes. "Ivan..." I mutter.

"What's wrong, Yoshika?" Lynne asked. "Nothing. I just got a really weird feeling like someone was watching me." Yoshika responds. "Who do you think it was?" Lynne questions further. "Maybe just my imagination." Yoshika says before Lucchini shouts. "I want seconds!" "Coming!" Yoshika responds "Oh, no. I'm so sorry, did you not like it?" Yoshika asks Barkhorn and myself. "No Yoshika, it's fine I'm just not hungry." I say as I get up with Barkhorn following shortly afterwards. "Do I get seconds or not?" Was the last thing I heard before I left.

"Hey Barkhorn if anyone asks I'm in my room." I state before leaving her to go her own way. Walking through the corridors to my room I think back to that day.

 **Flashback**

"Ivan grab that Bren while I'll cover you." I whisper to him in the middle of the night. Crouching in our small slit trench we ready our guns. Him his Sten Mk II And Myself, my beloved Lee Enfield. "Take it slow don't rush." I say. "Got it. Just make sure the Neuroi don't shot my ass off 'kay lieutenant." He responds in a whisper before going over the top to grab the machine gun. Moving slowly I watched as he reached the gun and ammunition swinging the gun over his back he started to drag the ammo back only for a group of 10 Neuroi infantry form to arrive. They started shooting at our positions first before they noticed Ivan in the open. "IVAN RUN! LEAVE THE GUN!" I shouted over to him when they started to shoot at him. He opened up on them taking out three before a fourth jumped on him. They ended up in a struggle for life. I went to go get him when another two Neuroi jumped into my trench. I shot one before the other tried to gut me. I deflected it with my bayonet before I smashed the but of my rifle into its head. Drawing my knife I stabbed it in the chest before it died. Looking over to Ivan I watch as he losses the battle for life. The Neuroi pins him with one arm on his throat and the other raised to impale him. "IVAN NO!" I call out as the Neuroi just stabs him before disappearing into the brush taking the body with him.

The next day his body was found, he was set against a tree just 100 meters from our frontlines. Later that day word got around that he was still alive when he was pulled into the bush, after I heard that rumour we were attacked by a force that out numbered us 20:1 and we pulled through with 10 of ours dead. That week I was promoted to captain and my magic was discovered.

 **End flashback**

After a few hours we were all called outside. Yoshika and Lynne hadn't prepared a tea party for us all, where Commander told us this. "According to the report from the operations room, we will attack the day after tomorrow. Please use today to rest up. You're certainly going to need all of your energy for the coming battle." "Hold on. Sergeant Miyafuji, Lynette. Don't forget you two have training after this." Major said. "Yes, ma'am. We promise we'll be there." They both said before Yoshika slurped her tea while I drank a glass of whiskey. "Oh, gross! She's completely indecent." Perrine said. "Who. me!?" Yoshika asked. "She didn't mean that. But you really shouldn't be slurping your tea so loudly." Lynne answered.

After that we had lunch and I was seated across from Barkhorn again. "All right. What do you want me to do with it this time?" Commander asked. "The same thing you always do with it. Nothing's different." Barkhorn answered somewhat upset. "Are you sure? I really think you should keep some of it with you." Commander pushed. "The only thing I need with me is food, clothing, and shelter and I have that." Barkhorn shot back forcing Commander to give up. "Sergeant Miyafuji?" Commander asked. "Yes, ma'am?" Yoshika answered. "Could you come here for a minute?" Commander asked her, Yoshika didn't respond just walked up to her. "Here." Commander said as she handed Yoshika her pay.

After lunch I tried to escape but Major noticed me trying to leave. "Morrison would you care to join us in a bath." It was more of a statement than a question but I still tried to turn it down. "I'm sorry Major but I had a shower earlier today, maybe some other time." "Nonsense you can still bathe with us." She said while grabbing my collar. Thank god I have the aura sense that only worked if your eyes were closed as there was no way I could escape the Major when she set her mind on something, and so that's how I ended up in the bath with my eyes closed. "I'm so confused, Lynne. I just got my salary from Commander Minna. I don't even think they would be paying me. I was so surprised." Yoshika stated. She was seated to my left with Lynne to her left. "Why am I not surprised you're surprised?" Lynne said. "The thing I'm confused about is the amount. How much is a pound worth?" Yoshika asked. "It's about 1.7514 bucks in Farawayland" I answer. "Well, let's see. Fuso's currency is umm..." Lynne said before trailing off causing Yoshika to finish it for her. "It's the yen." "Okay, well, then that means at the recent rate a pound is kind of like..." Lynne continued before being cut off by the Major who had walked in with us but had stayed silent. "One pound is equal to 19.6 yen right now." "Oh, thank you, Major Sakamoto." Yoshika said. "19.6 yen is worth one bag full of rice which means ten pounds is... That means ten pounds is worth a thousand bowls of rice!?" "Oh, is that so, Miyafuji? Then I suggest you spend your money wisely. By the way, you've only been paid for half the month so far." The Major said. "Really, that was only half? But Major, why are we getting paid so much?" "Because were all they got so they want to keep us happy we don't want the Gallian desertion to happen again but amongst witches instead of normal troops." I answered before the major could say the real reason but she did anyway. "Simple. We are continuously standing on the front lines. Because of that, we never know when a battle may be the last one we fight. Does that make sense?" "Yeah, I think so." "They wanna make sure we have proper compensation. That way we'll have no regrets in the line of fire." "Oh..." Yoshika finished.

"They are in the same bath tub together. How encouraging." Perrine said breaking the silence. "If that's the whole reason for this money, then I don't think I wanna keep it." Yoshika said. "I understand how you feel. But I like the thought of being able to send something to my family." Lynne said. "You send it home?" Yoshika asked. "Yeah, I have a lot of siblings and they always appreciate the extra help." Lynne answered. "That's such a good idea, Lynne. I think I'm gonna send mine to my mom and grandma. I bet they could really use it! What about you Stefan? Who do you send it to?" Yoshika asked. "Well Yoshika. I have no family that I know of." I responded. "Oh... why's that Stefan." Lynne asked me now. "Well I can't remember much from before waking up in a hospital at 13, getting out two days after my birthday I joined the infantry because I needed the money. So I keep it. Though recently I bought a car just because I'll be needing it after the war." I said. "What do you remember?" Yoshika asked. "Well I remember that my name I clouded Stefan Morrison, in that order, my age and that's about it." I said.

Later that day Barkhorn, the Major, Yoshika and Lynne were out on a training mission when a Neuroi was detected. The Commander and myself scrambled. I reached them first as I had kicked it into high gear leaving everyone in the dust behind me. "Hey new record 850 km per hour." I said as I reached the group in time to hear. "It's the Neuroi! It's entered the East Grid, sector 7, altitude 15,000. Their attack cycle has been quite erratic recently." "I heard there was some activity in Karlsland, but I don't know all the details just yet." Commander said. "Did you say Karlsland?" Barkhorn asked. "Something wrong?" Major asked back. "No, ma'am. There's nothing wrong." Barkhorn responded. "All right, prepare to change formation. Perrine will now be Barkhorn's wingman. Sergeant Miyafuji will follow my lead. Morrison, you're on your own so keep a watch on your six. Let's do this quick and efficient." The Major said before we changed formation. "Enemy sighted!" The Major said before Commander spoke. "Barkhorn unit, Morrison, move in. Major, cover them." "I'm right on it. Miyafuji, follow me!" The Major responded. I dove towards the Neuroi before I could hear anymore commands. Flying in close I opened up like a bat out of hell. I continued this flight path until Commander called out. "Back up, Barkhorn! You're too close!" Glancing over to Barkhorn I see a beam strike her and cause her to fall towards the ground. I dive to catch her and all I could hear over the radio was calls for captain Barkhorn. I reached her myself followed closely by Perrine and then Yoshika. I grab her waist before trying to right her. I succeeded partly as she was still unconscious. I set her down gently with the help of Perrine. "Perrine shield Yoshika, Yoshika heal Barkhorn while I'll help with shielding." I command.

"This is all my fault! What am I gonna do?" Perrine started to panic. "She's bleeding. We can't move her. It'll only make it worse. I'm going to have to heal her here." Yoshika stated. "That's okay. Please, just save her!" Perrine continued to panic. "Stay calm, Yoshika. You have to concentrate. You can do this." Yoshika said to herself. "Wow, that's amazing." Perrine said losing concentration allowing the Neuroi to fire a beam at us. I quickly put up a shield, booking it. "Hold still. I think it's working." Yoshika said. "What are you think you're doing? You have to get away from me or you'll put everyone else in danger! Go on, get out of here! There's no point in saving me. Just forget about it, use your powers on the enemy!" Barkhorn said, pain edvident in her voice. "I'm not leaving you behind like Ivan damnit!" I shout over to her. "So shout the fuck up while we save you!" "Hold on! I will save you! We're friends, aren't we?" Yoshika said right after me. "You're here to defeat the enemy! My fate is to die here! I don't deserve to live!" Barkhorn shot back at us. "Bullshit! If you were meant to die here then who's going to greet Chris when she wakes up! Hartmann and commander sure as hell ain't, and I don't think she wants to wake up to find out her sister died!" I shoot back. "I can't do it... There's no way I can protect all these people that you're talking about. I couldn't...I couldn't even save my own sister. Forget about me. I'm useless. Just go..." she says at a whisper. "I know it's impossible to protect everyone, Captain! But I'm still gonna try, because that's what I came here to do, I'm not leaving! Iwanna help as many people as I can, and right now you need help!" Yoshika said shuting her up. "Hurry! I can't fight it off much longer!" Perrine said as I finally realized she had put up a shield to protect me from a diffrent shot. "Almost done. Just a little longer...there!" Yoshika said.

"Chris! I don't wanna give up...I have the power to help. This time, I will protect them!" Barkhorn said as she got ready to fly up. "I'm coming with." I stated while lifting my Vikers up. Together we took off and zoom climbed up to altitude. "The core!" The Major called out as Barkhorn and I destroy the core. *huff*. "That took a lot out of me." I say as I wave about until Lynne caught me. Holding me up I could see Barkhorn greet Commander with. "Minna!" Before she got slapped by Commander then pulled into a deep hug. "What do you think you're doing!? If we lose you, what are we supposed to do!? I understand that you lost your homeland and that must be really, really difficult, but we are a team! No, a family! You, me, the entire squad! Chris is going to get better. I promise you that. So for her sake, and for the sake of your friends, don't take your life for granted. I don't know what we'd do if you died. We're the only ones who can protect our country, so stop being so selfish and stay with us!" Commander said while hugging Barkhorn close. "I'm sorry. We are a family. You're right. That vacation you mentioned, I think I would like to take it after all. I'd like to go and visit her." Barkhorn said. "So, I see you finally decided to do it, huh?" Commander said. "I'll drive." I called receiving a few strange looks. "What I have lots of vacation time aswell. I'm gonna need some time to do nothing all day."

"Captain Barkhorn, you ready?" I ask while knocking on her door. "Yes, just give me a second." "Alright." I fall out before muttering. "The sound of the mortars, the music of death, we're playing the devils symphony." After that Barkhorn exited her room. "What was that you said?" She asked. "Nothing of your concern." I responded as we walked into the hanger. "Alright ready to learn how a winnipeger drives." I said as I quickly left the hanger at top speed, probably breaking every speed law out there. When we reached the hospital I parked and we left. Barkhorn was surprisingly unaffected by it. Entering Chris's room I took a seat over by the window placing my feet on the ledge I took a quick nap to give them privacy.

I was walking some paces behind the major as she had woken me up. I was still hung over after last night when I drank myself unconscious in my own room. "Hey! Miyafuji!" The Major called out suddenly. "Ow, Major I'm still hung over." I said while taking a quick swig of a concoction made with a bit of the dog that bit me aka whiskey. "It's not what you think!" Yoshika suddenly shouts and grabs the Majors breasts. "Are you amused with yourself?" The Major asks. I just walk by and say. "Good luck Yosh, you'll need it" "Ahhhhh!" Was Yoshika's response as she was to late, the Major struck her. "I didn't even see you there." Lynne said while helping Yoshika. "Me, neither. I'm so sorry!" Yoshika says. "You're slacking, first I find Morrison passed out drunk in his room then I surprise you two." The Major stares while facepalming. "Hey!" I shout back. "It was my day off so I got drunk. It's not like I can go to a street boxing match because Barkhorn didn't want to." "What's street boxing?" Yoshika asks. "Yoshika have you been living under a rock." I ask. "No." Was the response I got. "Well street boxing is basically boxing but there are no real rules. You just have to make your opponent stay down even if you have to kill them. Though it's uncommon that people die nowadays. Mostly they loss a finger, an eye, teeth or their ear." I explain. "Sounds gruesome." Lynne comments. "Ah but it's fun to beat the shit out of some unexpecting Brit." I shoot back.

"We're going to the beach?" Yoshika asked as were all seated in couches in the main hall. "That's right. We leave tomorrow morning. We'll be going to the eastern coast of this island." The Major answered and yoshika must not have gotten what's happening to them. "All right! The beach! I love the sea! Um... don't you guys love the sea, too?" "Yoshika..." Lynne said while tugging on her shirt. "Hmm?" Yoshika answered. "We're going there to train. Not play." Lynne explained. "Oh, we are?" Yoshika asked. "That's right, Sergeant. We have to be prepared for anything. And that means in any location. For example, what are you going to do if you lose your flying capability out at sea and fall in. We'll be training for those types of situations." "Yep. That's it." I say confirming what the Major said. "Hmm..." Yoshika groaned. "What was that Miyafuji? Do you not want to train with us?" The Major asked. "No! I mean, yes! I wanna train! I do!" Yoshika said startled. "Nice save Yosh." I whisper to her. "Okay, I want all of you to meet us here. We will be expecting you at 1000 hours, clear?" Commander said. "Yes, Commander." We all respond. "Do you understand the instructions, Sergeant?" Commander asked Yoshika. "Yes!" "Then will you do me a favor in convey this information to Shirley and Ensign Lucchini for us? Shirley was working in the hangar this morning so look there. And Lucchini is... she's probably sleeping somewhere so I suggest checking the base." Commander directed. "Right. Got it." Yoshika confirmed. "Thank you. Oh, and there's one more thing. I suppose I should tell you, you won't be training the entire day. In other words, there'll be some downtime between drills so... pack your swimsuit." Commander said. "Yes, ma'am. I will! Um, I'll be right back! Will you come with me for just a second, please?" Yoshika asked Lynne. "Just like a young school girl. I comment off handedly. "So much energy." Commander said. "Shirley's in the hangar again?" The Major asked. "Yes. Since early this morning. Do you think she's gonna come out for air sometime?" Commander asked. "Based on experience." I start. "Nope. Not even for food. The only thing that will drag her out is if someone goes in there and fetches her or the alarm goes off." "It's about to get noisy around here." The Major comments.

"I don't understand. Why do we have to wear these?" Yoshika asked. I situated at the bottom of the cliff incase anyone couldn't swim back to the surface as it is the law in Manitoba to learn how to skate and swim so I ended up as a strong swimmer. I had found that out when I had to jump into the water to save a drowning man. "You'll need them in a marine emergency. I don't like repeating myself, Sergeant." The Major said. "All right, girls. Everyone else is completed their training. Looks like you two are the only ones left." Commander said. While all this happened I had climbed up behind the girls and when the Major shouted. "Stop wasting time and get in there!" I shouted back "THIS! IS! SPARTA!" And pulled the girls off the rock. They screamed on the way down. When we hit the surface I let go of them and swam on my own. "Why would you yell that of all things." Barkhorn shouted over to me while swimming nearby. "Because it felt appropriate for the moment." I call back.

"They're not coming up." The Major said. "Want me to get 'em?" I ask. "Nope." Commander said. "I guess this means they won't be flying." "Do you think we're pushing them too hard?" Commander asked the Major. Just then they broke the surface. "This isn't the kiddy pool. Stop dog-paddling. Take a page out of Perrine's book! Or Morrison's!" The major calls over to them. "So sad." Perrine comments as she swims past "It's heavy. I can't... Help!" Yoshika states as she goes back under.

"Okay, everyone. Time for a break." The Major shouts. "I... can't... move." "Me, neither..." Yoshika and Lynne say back to back as they end up laying in the sand. "Hey - Lynette, they said we'd have breaks. But they still haven't stopped torturing us." Yoshika states. "You got used to it?" Shirley said from behind me. "Hi, Shirley." "Afternoon, Shirley." Both Yoshika And Myself greet her. "It gets easier. Trust me. And besides, you get a train on the beach. Nothing wrong with that." She says as she lays down in the sand between Yoshika and Lynne. "This feels so good. I love it." Lynne said. "Yeah, me, too." Yoshika agreed. "And me, three." Shirley agreed aswell. "If you girls need me I'll be by the hanger." I sayas I start to walk until what yoshika says next stops me in my tracks. "What's that?" Already I'm scanning the sky looking for an aircraft hoping it's freindly. "What's the matter?" Lynne asked. "I don't know. I saw something. It was flying across the sun." Yoshika stated. "What was it?" Shirley asked. "The enemy!" We both exclaimed as we spotted it. "Neuroi? Shirley, Stefan, hold on!" They called out after us as we had booked it towards the hanger.

"This is Yeager. Taking off." "Morrison, launching." We both sound off over the radio before I realize I don't have one on me. Ah well to late now. I continue to follow Shirley until I max out my engines speed. "Damn it's maxed out." I mutter. The I watch a Shirley suddenly excelerates before I feel a shock wave. "She did it. She broke the sound barrier." I mutter aloud. But then I realize something, she's going to slam into the Neuroi or was as she just smashed her way through it. Then Yoshika and Lynne catch up to me. They are busy reporting what's happening while I'm scanning for problems. Then I spot one. Shirley's striker has disactivated and she's falling. "Yoshika, Lynne you get Shirley, I'll get her striker." I shout over to them as I dive down on an intercept course. Reaching them I look over to Yoshika and Lynne only to see that Lynne was behind Shirley holding her up while Yoshika was fondling her *cough*assests*cough* "really Yosh." I call out to her as I fly infront of them.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

"Your displeasure is written all over your face. Calm yourself, Major." Commander said while sipping her tea. "They call us all the way over there and then start telling us how the budget is totally fubar. Of course I'm pissed off. They owe us!" Yup she was pissed. "They're just panicking. We're currently the only ones consistently getting results at this point." Thank you for stating the obvious Commander. "They're not going to see anything other than what they want until it's far too late." Again obvious, Major. "That's just how the warmongers behave. If the Neuroi had never shown up, they would have you, me, and everyone on this team split into sides and killing each other instead." Commander said. "Those damn bankers think they run the world. Sorry about that, Miyafuji, Morrison. I really wanted to show you around Britannia so you could know how beautiful her people could be. Especially after the incident at Hong Kong." The Major said. "That basterd, he ordered all of our armoured support and supplies turned around and sent to Britannia." I said still bitter about his order three years later. "It's okay. I was actually just thinking how everyone in the military is so different. Um... do you hear something?" Yoshika said trying to changs the mood by answering the Major. "That's just Sanya singing. We're approaching the base. She came to escort us." The Major explained. "Thanks, Sanya!" Yoshika said while waving at her. Sanya just flew into the clouds.

"Is Sanya really shy? She just pulled away." Yoshika asked. "She may be a little shy but she has a pretty voice. She is a good girl. Hold on." Commander explained to us. "What is it, Sanya?" The Major asked just as my aura sense picked up the Neuroi. "Someone is looking at us." Sanya said. "Someone is what? Repeat that, please. I'm having trouble reading your transmission." The Major asked. "I'm sorry. There is an unknown bogey inbound from the direction of Sirius at high speed." Sanya explained. "So is it a Neuroi?" Commander asked. "Yes, I believe it's them. Its speed is too great to be a normal aircraft." Sanya answered. "I don't see anything, Sanya." The Major said trying to use her magic. "It's in the clouds. Target cannot be acquired visually." Sanya explained. "So that's how it is." The Major muttered.

"Umm, Major, what are we supposed to do?" Yoshika said finally breaking the silence. "Nothing we can do." The Major explained. "We're trapped here?" Yoshika said panicking. "Without our Strikers Units we're just regular passengers on this plane. Do you think they planned it this way?" Commander explained. "Not me." I said as I stood at the now open door with my Lee Enfield in hand. "The Neuroi aren't capable of such complicated strategies." The major said ignoring me. "Target is still inbound, fast. Contact in 3 minutes." Sanya explaines. "Sanya, try to buy us time until backup arrives. Avoid a direct engagement if possible." Commander said. "Yes, ma'am. I'll draw their fire away from the transport." Sanya said. "Don't do anything reckless." Commander pleaded.

"Watch closely, Miyafuji." The Major said as I kneeled at the door with my rifle leveled. "Okay. Sanya can find Neuroi even you can't see?" Yoshika asked. "Yes. Her magical abilities allow her to see what lies beyond even the horizon." The Major explained. "Wow..." Yoshika sounded surprised. "That' why we always have her assigned night patrol. It's where she makes sense." Commander explained "It's no different than your healing magic. You heard her song, right? That's one of her spells. She uses it to guide the transport." The Major explained. All the while Sanya fires off a few rockets only she wasn't fired back at. No lasers came. "Just as I thought. She's able to battle them before they're even visible." Commander said. "I can't see any Neuroi at all." Yoshika exclaimed. "You can take Sanya's word for it. Sanya, that's enough. Return to base." Major ordered. "But it's not..." Sanya started only to be cut off by Major. "Good work. You were able to protect us by yourself."

"So, nobody actually saw the Neuroi except Sanya?" Barkhorn Said. "No, I sensed it aswell." I said walking into the room with a pair of shorts on and a towel over my hair as I was busy drying it. I could see all of them blush and look away. "It stayed hidden in the clouds and never showed its face." Commander said. "'kay. But I heard it didn't even bother trying to shoot back at her. When does a Neuroi do that? Are we even certain that it really was a Neuroi?" Hartmann said. "100%, couldn't mistake the aura of the stench." I said while holding my nose to prove my point. "Morrison I've never got close enough to smell a Neuroi, wha do they smell like." Hartmann asked. "Ever smelt burnt flesh. Yea times that smell by 10." I say.

"Maybe it was a shy Neuroi. ... or maybe not. Sorry..." Lynne said cutting off our conversation, probably because she doesn't want to think about the stench they have. "No, it's true. Maybe they were connecting on the same wavelength like sisters, perhaps." Perrine agreed. "How a Neuroi thinks is not known. We need a clear picture of their intentions. Until we have that, there's no way to predict what they will do next." Commander said confirming all of our suspicions that we have no idea. "There is a high likelihood this Neuroi that failed would return over and over again till it succeeds." The Major said. "I agree. Because of that very reason, I'm going to set up a special units specifically for night missions. Sanya." Commander said. "Ma'am?" "Miyafuji." "Ah? Yeah?" "And Morrison. Starting immediately, the two of you will constitute the new night combat team." She explained. "Damn. Hoped to never get stuck on night watch again." I mutter. "Are you really sure you want me?" Yoshika asked. "You're the only other one with experience with this Neuroi." The Major answered. "But I only sat there and watched..." Yoshika started to say before she was cut off by Eila. "I'd like to volunteer for night combat!" She shouted while pushing Yoshika down so she could reach over. "That's great. So Eila makes four total for the night patrol. We'll have to rework the rotation schedule a bit to accommodate your shift." Commander said. "Sorry. This is all because I let the Neuroi get away..." Sanya muttered. "Not at all Sanya." I state. "No, nobody said that, Sanya!" Yoshika said agreeing with me, all we got in return was a "Hmm."

"Blueberries. Why do we have so many, huh?" Perrine said while looking over the large amount of said food we had received. "My uncle ships them here all the way from our farm back home. Blueberries are supposed be really good for your eyesight." Lynne explained. "Let's eat!" Hartmann said excitedly. "Yes, it's true. In Britannia all the night pilots eat Blueberries. It's likely they discovered their benefits as well." Barkhorn said. "Same with carrots." I continued. "Yoshika, Shirley! Stick out your tongues!" Lucchini said excitedly. "Hmm? Hmm..." Yoshika and Shirley said while doing as they were told before they burst into laughter. "Typical!" Perrine Said while covering her mouth with a napkin. "Perrine..." Eila Said while sneaking up behind Perrine and grabbing the corners of her mouth and stretching it wide showing off her teeth which were stained blue. "Everything in moderation." The major said while walking by.

"How could you do such a thing to me!" Perrine s reaches at Eila while following her around the Mess Hall. "I didn't do anything." Eila pushed. "Delicious." Sanya Said after having a few.

"You finished your breakfast. That's good. It's time for you three to go to sleep. Dismissed." The Major said as we all stood infront of her after breakfast.

"Huh?" Yoshika said as the door was slammed in her face. "But we just woke up. And did they really have to come and cover up all the windows, too?" "I call the corner." I said as I set down a blanket and a pillow. "They probably want us to get used to the dark." Eila said. "Sorry, they turned your room into such a dark cave, Sanya." Yoshika said as she sat down on the bed. "They didn't. This is how I like my room." Sanya explained. "Oh, really? Hey! These are some type of talisman." Yoshika states after finding a card. "Talisman?" Eila asks. "Some people think they're good luck charms that scare away ghosts." Yoshika explains. "This is my good luck charm." I said holding my whiskey bottle high before taking a swig. "Don't drink in Sanya's room!" Eila said as she smacked me. "Fine. Then you can deal with the consequences." I say as I put it away. "People sometimes mistake me for a ghost." Sanya said. "Yeah? Because you're always playing around at night?" Yoshika asked. "Uh-uh. Happens a lot during the day. They say they can't tell if I'm really there or not." Sanya explained. "Don't pay attention to anything Miss Priss Four-Eyes says. If you're bored I've got tarot cards." Eila said. "Tarot cards?" Yoshika asked. "It's fortune telling." Eila explained while setting out her cards and looking at the one Yoshika chose. "I can use my magic to see into the future. I can't see very far, though... Now, let's see. Well, this is good! You're going to see someone you've been longing to see!" "Is that true? It's not. That's not possible." Yoshika said sadly. "Why not?" Eila asked. "Because that person isn't coming back." Yoshika vaugely explained. "I see. Hmmmm, I don't know what to tell you, then!" Eila said.

"Hey." I said. "Eila can you try my fortune?" I ask. "Sure." She said as she set out her cards. Three on top, four in the middle and three on the bottom. "Alright, thanks." I say as I pick the middle card on the top row. "Lets see." She said while looking over my shoulder. "It says you'll find something you're searching for but at a high price." "What could that be..." I go deep in thought.

"Time to wake up! It's night!" Lucchini said as she threw open the door into my foot. "I'd rather not shot you Lucchini so please be more quiet when waking me up." I said as my reflexes had kicked in and my Webley was once again pointed at a witch.

"It's dark in here." Yoshika said as she sat beside Lynne "Uh-huh. They said it's to help your eyes adjust to flying during night time missions." Lynne explained. "What's this?" Yoshika asked. "It's a special merigold herbal tea! I've heard it can help your eyesight just as much as blueberries." Perrine explained. "Oh really? I heard that that was just an old wives tale." Lynne said. "What? I've never met such an insolent brat in all my life! This secret recipe is my grandmother's!" Perrine screeched. "I'm sorry." Lynne apologized. "Tastes like mud." I comment. "This smells like Sansho." Yoshika said. "Sansho?" Lynne asked. "Lynne and Yoshika, stick out your tongues!" Lucchini said only to be disappointed. "She's got a point." Eila said. "This isn't a contest! I was just trying to be helpful!" Perrine explained. "Yuck." Erica said while placing her head on the table.

"My hands won't stop shaking." Yoshika said while standing in her striker. "Why?" Eila asked while I was lighting up a smoke. "I didn't think the sky would actually look this black at night." Yoshika stated. "Is that's your first night time mission?" Eila asked. "Do you wanna scrub it?" Sanya asked just after. "Will you both hold my hands? I'm sure I could do it if you hold my hands, Sanya." Yoshika said before Sanya garbed a hold of her hand. "Let's get going." Eila said as she grabbed Yoshika's other hand. "Wait! I have to... ah... I'm not ready yet! No! Please don't let go my hands! Promise you'll hang on to me!" Yoshika screamed as we sped down the runway. "Wait just another minute. We're almost above the clouds." Sanya said to her after takeoff.

"It's beautiful! I could've never made it up here on my own! Sanya, Eila, thank you!" Yoshika said as she flew around us. "It's okay. It's our job." Sa ya said causing me to laugh. "Reminds me of basic. 'It's okay sir, just another day on the job' quote from private tommy at the battle of Waterloo." I said.

"What's this?" Perrine said as we all looked into the small cup we were given. "Liver oil. From a Lamprey. It's good for eyesight and temperament." Yoshika explained. "It smells kinda fishy." Erica said as she sniffed it. "It's fish oil. The nutritious benefits should more than outweigh the difficult flavour." Barkhorn said as I downed the glass. "Are we back in the kindergarten, Yoshika? What an absurd choice?" Perrine said. "Is that so? I'm the one who brought it." The Major said. "I love fish oil." Perrine exclaimed as she garbbed the cup and downed it like someone would down o shot of whiskey. "Ewww. What's this?" Lucchini said after drinking a bit. "Tastes pretty similar to engine lubricant." Shirley said. "I was forced to drink this as a cadet and I couldn't stand it either." The Major explained. "I couldn't agree with you more." Perrine said. "Another round?" Commander And Myself said as we held up our glasses only to revive looks as if we are crazy. "What, it tastes better than half the shit I've eaten in my entire life." I explain.

"Um... Eila, Sanya and Morrison, where are the three of you from before all this?" Yoshika asked. "I'm from Suomos." Eila said. "Orussia." Sanya said. "Farawayland." I say. "Oh, where were those again?" Yoshika asks. "Suomus is in the northern part of Europe. Orussia is in the east." Eila explained. "And Farawayland is just to the north of the United States." I continue. "All right. Wasn't most of Europe destroyed by the Neuroi in the first round of attacks?" Yoshika asks. "Yes. The city I lived in fell a long time ago." Sanya explained. "What happened to your family?" Yoshika asked. "When the Neuroi came they fled the city and took shelter further east. Much further east. Over the Ural Mountains." Sanya explained. "Thank goodness for that." Yoshika said. "What's so good about that? Don't you hear what she is telling you?" Eila said clearly upset over this so I decided to keep quiet. "Well, they may be far apart right now but at least they can get back together someday..." Yoshika tried to explain. "Huh, Orussia is a huge place. 'past the Ural' is dozens of times the size of Fuso. It's not so easy to find people once you've lost them. Besides, there's a Neuroi hive between here and there." Eila explained. "I see what you mean. But I'm still little jealous." Yoshika said. "You're kinda stubborn, aren't you?" Eila asked. "You don't understand. What I mean is... you wanna see your family again, right, Sanya?" Yoshika asked. "Yes." Sanya answered. "Well, I bet they wake up every morning just like you. Thinking and wondering about the day that you'll be reunited as a family." Yoshika continued. "Yes." Sanya said again. "If neither of you ever gives up, then someday you'll have to be together again. And it must be so wonderful to be able to think that way." Yoshika finished her explanation.

"As far as I know I have no family, and all those I could consider family are dead." I say outloud not realizing it. "Why's that." Yoshika asked. "You're innocent Yoshika, never change." I say before I rolled onto my side away from them signaling that I didn't want to continue the conversation.

"Hmm..." Sanya said noticing that Yoshika wasn't feeling 100% "I feel so yucky." Yoshika stated. "Then why don't we go to the Sauna?" Eila suggested. "Sauna?" Yoshika asked. "C'mon, you've never been to a sauna before?" Eila asked. "You girls go ahead. I have some stuff to grab." I said as I walked away. "How will my life play out here." I muttered once I was out of earshot. "Lets see this episode is about night flying. Next is... damn why can't I remember. Maybe I should try to do something that will jog my memory." I continue to walk deep in thought until I found myself at the hanger. "What is it that I'm missing." I mutter.

"Hey, guess what? You'll never guess but today is my birthday!" Yoshika said as they flew above me. I was lagging behind still deep in thought mostly just answering whenever I was spoken directly to. "Why didn't tell us it was?" Eila asked. "I usually ignore it. Because it's also the day that my father died. It's a long story and I didn't wanna explain it to everyone." Yoshika explained. "Well, that's just plain stupid. If it's your birthday, then we're obligated to have some fun, right?" Eila said. "Are you sure about that?" Yoshika asked. "Of course." Eila confirmed. "Miyafuji, I want you to listen closely." Sanya said. "Okay." Yoshika said. "Hey, I can hear something." "It's the radio." Eila explained. "At night, the sky is quiet. So I can pick up radio waves from distant places over the horizon." Sanya explained. "That's amazing. I have no idea you could do that." Yoshika said. "Yes. It keeps me company while I'm flying at night." Sanya said. "I thought this was our little secret." Eila complained. "I'm sorry. But tonight is a special occasion." Sanya apologized.

"It's your magic. Do what you want." Eila said before flying down towards me. "Hey Morrison." "Stefan is fine." I say. "Anyway you wanna talk?" She asked. "Not really. It's a bit of a sore topic for me." I explain. "Oh come on. Maybe this will help." She pushes. "What's wrong?" Yoshika asks. "You'll see." Said Sanya. "Tonight just also happens to be..." Eila started to explain until a sound broke over our radio. It sounded like sanya but definitely wasn't her. "What? What is it?" "It's a song." Yoshika stated. I knew something was off. "But how could..." Eila started before I cut her off. "Weapons hot. Prepare for combat." "Its sounds... like..." Sa ya started. "Is it the Neuroi, Sanya?" Eila asked. "The Neuroi? Where?" Yoshika asked. "You need to leave right now!" Sanya said before she flew straight up. "Damn it." I said. "Sanya!" Eila said as a beam shot out of the clouds and destroyed Sanya's left striker. "You, idiot! Why fight him alone?" "The enemy is after me. I can feel it. You have to get away from me. If you're here..." Sanya started but I cut her off. "Sanya tell me where the basterd is. I'll shoot him down myself." "C'mon, what are you talking about?" Eila said. "We can never do that!" Yoshika said. "Please go." Sanya pleaded. "You can't see it!" Yoshika said to Eila as she had flown infront of Sanya while carrying Sanya's rocket launcher. "Sanya is going to tell me where that Neuroi is hiding. After that, I'll be able to predict the enemy's movement short term with my magic so I'll be fine. You're not the same as that thing, Sanya. It may be alone. But you've got us. Together we can't be defeated." Eila said with confidence. "Neuroi inbound, from the intersect line, 2 degrees off Vega and Altair. Distance to target, 3,200m." Sanya said before I dived to meet the Neuroi. "Here?" I could hear Eila, Sanya and Yoshika talking over the radio, none of them noticed my dive. "It's accelerating. A little more lead. That's good. Three seconds." Sanya said. "Take this!" Eila said as she shot off mulitiple rockets. "Did I miss?" She asked. "No, it's decelerating. It's sustained heavy damage. It's coming back!" Sanya said. "Oh no you don't!" Eila said as she swung the launcher towards the Neuroi and fired. "It dodged it!" Yoshika said surprised. "Damn it! Show yourself! It's there!" Eila said at the same time I spotted it. It was about 50 meters below me. "Eila, stop, get out of here!" Sanya said as a beam was sent flying their way. "There's no time! Good thinking, Miyafuji!" Eila said as Yoshika put up a shield. "We've got this! We're not gonna lose to that thing!" Yoshika stated as I dove down and onto the tail of the Neuroi. I could hear my twin Vickers chattering as I opened up. They chewed through the armour easily. "'cause we are a team" Eila said as it blew up into the white shards that always appear after one has been defeated.

"I can still hear it." Eila said confirming that it wasn't just me. "Why? Didn't we destroy it?" Yoshika asked. "No. That's my father's piano." Sanya said as she flew higher. "I see. The radio. It's reaching to us from somewhere down there. Wherever he is. It's miracle!" Yoshika said excitedly. "To be expected really." Eila said. "Huh?" "After all it is Sanya's birthday today, too. Technically yesterday, but, you know." Eila explained. "It's the same day as mine?" Yoshika asked. "What better way for a father to celebrate his daughter's birthday and to play the song he wrote for her. That kind of love allows for moments like this. For those who are open to feel it, it's no miracle." Eila continued. "Eila, you're so nice." Yoshika said. "No, I am not, idiot." Eila shot back. "Yes yo are. You were worried about me just before the battle." I said. "Idiot?" Yoshika questioned. "Oh mother, oh father, your daughter is listening. I'm right here." Sanya said while looking towards the heavens. "A happy birthday, right, Sanya?" Yoshika asked. "You, too. I hope you had a happy birthday. Miyafuji." Sanya said. "Happy birthday." Eila said. "Enjoy your b-day, Yosh." I said. "Thank you." Yoshika responded.

"It's morning! Wake up, Hartmann!" Is what I heard as I walked past Hartmann's room. "Just five more minutes... mam... maybe seventy..." Hartmann said nearly causing me to laugh. "I don't think so!" Barkhorn wasn't going to be happy when I get the opportunity to annoy her. "Okay, forty..." Hartmann said. "Get up! For a soldier of Karlsland, discipline first! Second discipline! Third, forth, fifth, discpline! Sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, discipline!" Barkhorn shouted. "And tenth?" Both me and HartmAnn ask. "Ah" Barkhorn jumped just afterwards realizing I snuck up on her. "Morning you two." I say with a wave and a smile. "When did you get here." She said to me before turning to Hartmann and saying. "Do you know what today is, Hartmann?" "Sleep day?" Myself and Hartmann both SWhat the same time. "No! Your commendation is this afternoon! In recognition of your 250 kills in service and combat you're being awarded a Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Commander Minna told you last night!" Barkhorn shouted. "Can I trade my award for sleep?" Hartmann asks. "Yea I agree can't we just sleep in." I ask. "You can't! Now get up!" Arkhorn says while removing the cloth draped over Hartmann's hips. "Not something I wanted to see this morning Hartmann." I comment as I turn around and cover my eyes "Put on some panties, or pants, I mean cloth. Just cover yourself already!" Barkhorn shouted, sounding flustered. "I agree with Barkhorn. And Hartmann, I never took you as someone who would actually be this messy." I comment. "You left this prestigious medal on the floor? And you dare to call yourself a soldier of Karlsland?! It's time for breakfast! Finish dressing and meet me in the dining hall!" Barkhorn said before walking out and grabbing me by the collar and litterally dragging me to the Mess Hall. Mostly because she was shorter than me.

Breakfast wasn't very exciting but after breakfast the girls went out to train and I disappeared into the hanger. I was set on working on my striker for the rest of the morning but Barkhorn decided to round me up because someone was stealing panties. "Hmm...A crime... That's for certain." Barkhorn said as I stood beside her. "Yes that's true." "Can I... have my cloth?" Asked yoshika as she held her shirt down over her nether reigns. "No. This is being kept as evidence." Barkhorn said. "But..." Yoshika said trying to argue "You're not wearing anything? Then I'll let you borrow mine." Barkhorn said as she started to take hers off. "Wait! No! I'll be fine..." Yoshika said being the saviour she is. "No need to be shy." Barkhorn says as she continues. "Yes, there is, please!" Yoshika continued to argue. "Barkhorn we don't need you going commando. Got it." I say stopping her while I toss the Major my tunic. "There yoshika you won't have to worry about anything. "Stefan, thank you very much." Yoshika thanks me. "Welcome." I respond though I could see the girls blushing as without my tunic I didn't have a shirt covering my dody, though I still had my shorts on. "What turned you into such a prude? ...Strange girl... Let's start the investigation. Now who could possibly want to steal Perrine's underwear?" Barkhorn Said while fixing her panties. "Maybe she wasn't wearing any to begin with." Shirley suggested. "Not possible." I state as perrine shoots down that suggestion. "That's absurd! Of course, I was!" "We have to assume that someone has stolen them." Barkhorn said while looking at Yoshika's swim suit for answers while I was looking around the room. "Now, given that, we need to know who proceeded officer Clostermann in the locker room." She said while I noticed Lucchini not eating and it looked like she was going into shock. "It was Ensign Francesca Lucchini!" Barkhorn says and Lucchini books it. "Get her!" Myself and Shirley say as we chase her. "Those panties are mine!" Perrine shouts as she joins the chase. "Wait! Stop!" Shirley shouts as Lucchini snags Yoshika's swimsuit. "Wait! Don't take that! Come back here!" Yoshika calls. "I'm sorry..." Lucchini says as she runs. "Lucchini, wait!" "Stop!" "Slow down!" "Just making things worse!" Were all calls as Lucchini ran with me and Shirley close behind. Followed closely by Barkhorn.

"Which way?" Barkhorn asks as we had lost her when she had run outside. "I... don't know." Shirley responded. "Let's go!" Barkhorn shouts as she runs to the left. Myself and Shirley following after her. "There she is! Stop!" Barkhorn shouted as she ran down the girls hall. "This is stupid! Don't run!" Shirley shouts aswell. "Alright girls this is how you clear a room." I say as I kick in the door only to nearly revive a punch to the face curtesy of Eila "Where is she?" Shirley asked. "She climbed down." Eila response. "Go!" Barkhorn shouts as she, Shirley and Eila run out of the room and I dive out of the window catching the pipe outside with my left and and riding it down like a fireman. Touching down, I see Lucchini jump through a window. I follow closely. "Hey your six." I say as they others come around the corners. "I'm not a thief!" She shouts and runs. The others reach me and perrine pants. "She's... too... fast!" "Damn it." I mutter when the alarm goes off. "The alarm?" Yoshika asks. "It's the Neuroi!" Perrine answers. "Battle stations!" Myself and Barkhorn shout. "Right!" Everyone answers.

"Ahh, Sakamoto, I'll be exposed..." Yoshika whines. "And I'm not wearing anything either." perrine supports Yoshika. "Ahahaha! I don't care! This is combat, girls! No one cares about your panties!" The Major laughs. "I care Major. I don't want to be seeing full moons while flying." I shoot back. "I'll go, too." Sanya states. She was clearly missing something. Ah right, her tights. "Sanya..." Eila Said. "Hey, Eila. You're wearing my tights." Sanya states, "Yea now that I think about it weren't you wedding Sanya's tights when I kicked in your door to chase Lucchini." I say. "I can't take them off right now!" Eila says as Sanya tries to pull them off Eila. "But those are mine, Eila." Sanya says not giving up. "But Major, it's breezy!" Yoshika states. "Just deal with it!" The Major shots back. "Yes, ma'am!" Yoshika answers. "Why are you wasting all this time! Let's move out, all units!" Barkhorn shouts just as I reach the end of the runway. "All right." I hear Shirley say before Commander cuts in. "Everyone, stop!" "Little late commander. I'm already airborne." I say as I turn around to land. "Commander Minna!" Yoshika states surprised. "Commander! The enemy!" Barkhorn starts. "...is not here! It was a false alarm. You can come out now." Commander finishes as I start to land. "Lucchini!" "Francesca!" Were calls I heard. "Lucchini accidentally set off the alarm when she was hiding." I heard Lynne explain. "Also, I've confiscated these." Commander said as she heals up everyone's panties. "There they are." Perrine said. "That's a relief." Eila said. "Excellent work, dear Commander Minna." Major laughed. "Not me. All of the credit here has to go to Lieutenant the all the confusion, she was the one who retained her composure and apprehended the guilty party." Commander said. "Thank you, ma'am." Hartmann said with a salute. "Hartmann, I'm so proud of you! You're the Karlsland Military's finest." Barkhorn said. "Good job. Officer." Major said. "Well, it's time to begin the award ceremony. That is of course if you're ready, Lieutenant Hartmann." Commander said. "Yes, ma'am." Hartmannsaid with another salute.

"Lieutenant Hartmann, front and center!" The Major said. "Ma'am!" Hartmann responded. "It's breezy." Lucchini said as she held the two buckets filled with water up. "Poor Lucchini... She's cold." Lynne said somewhat worried. "Yeah. But something doesn't add up." yoshika said. "Yea your right Yoshika." I said. "That's right. I never would have taken them if I had mine. My underwear was stolen." Lucchini revealed. "What?" Myself and perrine said at the same time. "Really?" Lynne questioned. "Oh, no! There still is a pantie thief running around the base!" Yoshika said. "But, who it's steal someone's panties?" Lynne asked looking at me. "Not me." I said. "She's just trying to make excuses." Perrine conclouded. "We will now be presenting one of our highest honors. Lieutenant Hartmann, an recognition of your distinguish service in the field of combat, it is my honor to bestow the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords." Minna said as we all got a good look at the pair of panties Hartmann was wearing. "Bloody 'ell." I mutter while everyone else was speechless. "They're just absolutely speechless." Commander commented. "Right!" Hartmann answered. "Congratulations, Lieutenant Hartmann." Commander said. "Thank you very much!" Hartmann said while saluting us all. My jaw just about hit the ground. The cigarette I was smoking had hit the ground long ago.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

"Something weird happened. I was in the hangar earlier today." Yoshika said as we were seated down on a small brick wall "Hmm?" Lynne six before Yoshika proceeded to explain to us that all male personnel on base have been ordered to keep unnessecary conversations with witches off base. "That is kind of strange." Lynne comments. "Yea." I comment. "So, why do you think Commander Minna would make up a rule like that? Do you know, Lynne, Stefan?" She asks. "I'd heard of it before. But I guess I never really thought there is anything weird about it." Lynne states. "Never knew about it." I say. "Well, it just doesn't make any sense. It's such a dumb order! You have to agree with me on this one." Yoshika states. "I do. I much rather like my conversations with the ground crews." I say. "I haven't really had the opportunity to talk to many men unless you include my brothers and Stefan." Lynne explains. "Not even when you were attending school?" Yoshika asks. "I went to Our Mother of Mercy all-girl school." Lynne answers. "Oh, okay." Yoshika answers. "I guess I'm not much help at this." Lynne said kinda said. "I would be." I comment. "Don't worry. Oh, wow! Look! It's the Akagi!" Yoshika said. "The Akagi?" Lynne asks. "It's the ship that brought us here." I said. "I heard it was being repaired. It must be fixed already." Yoshika informs us. "Hey, there they are. Yoshika!" Lucchini calls as she walks around the corner. "Commander Minna wants to see you!" Shirley informs us. "Oh, okay! What did I do?" Yoshika asks. "I don't know Yosh, I don't know." I say before She leaves.

"But the captain's in charge of the carrier group so he outranks Commander Minna." Lynne said. "Really? I didn't know he was so important." Yoshika said. "I can't believe the captain came to thank you in person. That's amazing!" Lynne exclaimed. "Yup" I say aswell. "Sergeant Miyafuji! I really wanted to thank you for saving our ship from the Neuroi. I thought that you were totally amazing. I bought this card at the PX for you because I couldn't afford flowers." A sailor said as he held a card out infront of him. "Oh, okay. That's sweet, I guess." Yoshika said. "Damn right it's a sweet jesture. "Ah, well, will you take this card... please do, I got it just for you." The sailor said. "The rules!" Yoshika excliamed. "Fuck 'em" I said in response. "I don't think I..." Yoshika tried to complain. "Oh, I bet that it's a love letter." Thank you Lynne. "A love letter...?" Yoshika questioned. "Uh-huh. Here, let me free up ya hands 'kay?" Lynne said as she took the gift from Yoshika's hands. "Ah!" "No!" Yoshika and the sailor cried out as the wind took the letter. "Oh... cute!" Lynne commented. "Yup. Can't agree more." I said as we walked towards them. "Commander Minna." Yoshika exclaimed. "Shit." I said. "You're both aware fraternization has been strictly prohibited." Commander said clearly upset. "It's my fault, ma'am. I was only trying to say thank you to her." The sailor said. "It's true. He wasn't doing anything wrong, Commander." Yoshika supported him. "Unnecessary contact with the Witches is against regulations. I cannot allow you to give her this contraband." Commander said while I mimicked her behind her back to see if either would crack, Lynne did. "It was my mistake, sorry." The sailor said before running off causing Commander to turn around as I was mimicking her. "Morrison is that really appropriate." She stated. "Yes, I had to under basic bullshit regulations law. It clearly states when a commanding officer has a bullshit order in place you must do everything in your power to make it seem funny." I said, man all those well rehearsed practices are doing wonders. "And where might this law be written." She asks. "Uh, fuck." I say.

"Commander Minna seemed so angry. I wonder what he wrote to you. Hey, Yoshika?" Lynne said. "Yea she really did. She stuck me on toilet cleaning duty for a week." I exclaim. "All I Did was follow what all my previous seniors did." "Well you aren't exactly the best at convincing." Lynne said. I place my hand on my chest pretending that I'm hurt. "Ouch, harsh Lynne." I said. "Wow, a Fuso doll." Yoshika said having finally opened her gift. "It's adorable." Lynne commented. "It is nice." I comment. "Hey Lynne, how can I thank them?" Yoshika asked.

"Initial reports from Gallia are that the enemy is advancing." Commander said. "It seems they finally got their predictions right for once." Major commented. "Yes. Their current altitude is 15,000 and they're headed directly for the south-east base." Commander continued. "Right. We will execute intercept pattern Alpha Tango 7. So here are your assignments. Barkhorn and Hartmann will take the lead. Perrine and Lynne will follow up behind. Miyafuji, Minna, Morrison and I will take the rear. Well the rest of you will remain here at the base on highest alert." The major said. "I love it when we get to house-sit." Lucchini commented. "I can adjust the gyro on my Striker Unit." Shirley said. "Right. You're all dismissed." Major said. "'kay, see you later." Lucchini called.

"Enemy sighted." The Major called out. "Its class?" Commander asked. "Confirming that now! M-class. 300. Standard attack formation?" Major said. "Affirmative." Commander confirmed. "Yes, ma'am! Move out!" Major ordered. "That's not good." Commander said as the Neuroi divided into mulitiple bogies. "It divided!" Thanks for the running commentary Major. "There's 80 on the right, 100 in the center and 30 on the left." Commander exclaimed. "That's 210 in all. We should all be getting medals after this one." The major commented. "Does that mean more pay?" I asked. "That's right." Commander confirmed. "Score." I said as I got ready to attack. "So, what's the plan?" Major asked. "I need you to locate the core." Commander said. "Roger that!" Major answered. "Barkhorn, you take the middle." "Yes, ma'am." "Perrine, your team has the right." "Yes, ma'am." "Morrison you take the left." "Ace here I come." I comment as I dive down.

I roll into a furball. The Neuroi are trying to shoot me down so I end up with 10 behind me while I'm chasing 20 around the sky. Quickly their numbers start to drop from 30 to about half that. "Whoohoo!" I shout as I fly threw a group of three shooting them all to pieces as my Vickers chatter away. "I'll be damned but this is two easy." I said outloud only for another 20 to join the fight against me. "It could be worse." I say. Soon after that both of my Vickers run dry. "Spoke to soon." I said as I was dodging laser shots and trying to reload. Then a Neuroi tried for a head on pass. "Well you fucked up my friend." I say as I draw my Webley, firing one shot I take him out. Shortly afterwards I'm done reloading. "Alright, let's dance." I say as I switch direction suddenly. Now I'm flying head on with30 or so Neuroi all of which are trying to shoot me down when suddenly they all burst into white shards. "Well there goes all the fun." I mutter.

"Yoshika, you were amazing!" Lynne exclaimed while flying up. "Just a lucky shot is all that was." Perrine commented. "Hey maybe I could get a lucky shot." I say nudging Barkhorn with my elbow. "Yeah, lucky we had Miyafuji on the team targeting the core. I think that's what you meant to say." Barkhorn said. "Whoa, Miyafuji, you're a pretty good shot." Hartmann congadulated Yoshika. "You really think so?" Yoshika asked. "It's beautiful." She said while staring at the falling white crystals. "Yes. When they're neutralized." Major commented. "Even the most beautiful flowers may have some thorns." Perrine saidtrying to be poetic. "Talking about yourself?" Hartmann asked shooting her down. "That is so rude! Except the part of I being beautiful. That's true." Perrine stated. "I don't know. I think you're pretty thorny." Hartmann said. "I agree with Hartmann here. You're kinda like a thorn bush or a Farawayland goose. Now those fuckers aren't cute, they're just annoying." I said. "Why must you always bring others down to your level?" Perrine asked. "Thorny Perry." Hartmann stated. "Minna, wait." Barkhorn said as she went to go after her. "Hey, where is she going?" Hartmann asked. "Not now. She needs to be left alone." The major said as I put my hand on Barkhorn's shoulder. "I see. This is Pas-de-Calais..." she said once I did so.

"Hi! Thank you everyone! Thank you! Please be careful! We'll be there when you need us most." Yoshika shouted over to the sailors on the Akagi, as we were doing a flyby. "Yeah, we will, won't we, Yoshika." Lynne said. "Leave some of the basterds for me will ya." I call out to them. "They got my thank you." Yoshika said happily. "They appreciate what you've done for them." Major explained. "Yeah." Yoshika agreed. "They all look so happy." Lynne said. "Can't agree more." I said back. "Yeah, they do." Yoshika said. "All right, let's head back to the base." Major commanded. "Yes, ma'am." We all said.

Upon entering the lounge I saw Commander in a sparkling red dress and Sanya playing the piano. "Minna, that song was so beautiful!" Yoshika said as soon as the song ended. "Well, thank you." Commander said as Eila came up behind Yoshika and pulled on her cheeks causing us all to laugh. "What do you think you're doing?" Yoshika asked. "No mention of Sanya's piano playing. Why is that?" Eila questioned. "I'll tell, I promise!" Yoshika said. "Don't stop there. Tell me more." Eila said. "I'm telling you!" Yoshika said. "Anything else?" Eila asked. "Oh please let me go now?" Yoshika asked. "Nope, you're not done just yet." Eila said. "C'mon, you're starting to hurt my face. Stop laughing and help me. Eila!" Yoshika complained.

The next morning I was doing a routine check up on my car. When I heard Barkhorn shouting in the halls. "What did Hartmann do this time?" I asked to no one in particular. Just then Barkhorn stormed in like she was going to yell at me for something. 'Might be the fact that I don't care much for military regulations.' I thought as she was followed by Hartmann. "I have to go see her Hartmann!" I heard Barkhorn shout. "Calm down and wait till Minna is informed." Hartmann argued back. "I can't Hartmann. I need to see her now." Barkhorn shot back. "There isn't a place for strikers at the hospital Trude" Hartmann explained. I finally connected the dots. "Barkhorn if you're going to see Chris then I'll drive you." I shout over to her. "Wait. What." She and Hartmann both said. "I'll drive, hop in." I said while waving them over.

Once we got there I had to help Erica out of the car. "Your driving is almost as bad as Trude." She stated. "Hahaha. Barkhorn is what we winnipegers would call a crazy driver." I laughed. " I'm not that bad." Barkhorn shot back as we walked up the stairs. "Yes you are Trude." Erica answered.

"This is a hospital. Be quiet please." The Nurse said as Barkhorn slammed open the door. "I'm so sorry, miss. I was in a hurry to get here. Chris..." Barkhorn apologized "Hi..." "Good to see you. Thank so much for coming. Were you okay without me?" Chris said. "Of course, yes! I'm just fine. Why wouldn't I be? Is that what you think of me?" Barkhorn asked. "She was a complete wreck. The nightmares were making her cry out. "Oh my sister, when will my baby sister ever wake up?"" Erica mimicked Barkhorn. "Is that true?" Chris asked. "You shut your mouth! This is supposed be a happy reunion!" Barkhorn shot back. "Happy reunion's are for after the war. Until then you will have to deal with a sad or ordinary reunion." I say. "But it's true." Erica agreed with me. "I am a dedicated soldier of Karlsland. I get people nightmares, got it?" Barkhorn said to Chris. "I have yet to have any nightmares related to you Barkhorn." I said. "Well, sister, you look happy." Thank you Chris for saving me from a lecture. "Really?" Barkhorn asks. "You can thank Miyafuji for that." Erica states. "Who's Miyafuji?" Chris asks. "Well, she's a newest recruit to the Strike Witches, along with Morrison over there." Erica said while gesturing towards me. "Huh?" Chris said. "She looks a little bit like you." Barkhorn explained. "Like me?" Chris asks. "Do you think I can meet her?" "I think I have a picture of her." I say as I search through my wallet. "Why not? I think you need to stop by the base." Barkhorn said. "Ah here it is." I say as I pass Chris a picture of me and Yoshika smiling at the camera on the Akagi. "Can I? Do you think she'll be my friend?" Chris asked while looking down at the picture. "Well, she is little bit odd, but she is nice. I'm sure that two of you will be great friends. You two may look alike, but you're much cuter. Absolutely." Barkhorn exclaimed. "Wow, no bias there." Erica said. "Yea, no bias what so ever" I agree.

"Hey Mr. Morrison. Are you and Miyafuji dating?" Chris asked. I almost spit out the water I was drinking. "No, no that picture was when we were going to Britannia, mostly because I have no family that I know of, she said that she'd keep one picture and I should keep the other as a way to remember her by. And please just call me Stefan, Mr. Morrison makes me sound old." I jokingly say. "Wait does that mean you're single." Erica asked. "Yes I am. But don't you try anything Erica." I say. "Hey trude he's single, now you can..." she started to say before Barkhorns band covered her mouth. "Don't say it!" Just said to Erica really flustered. "Wait. Does that mean you have..." I started aswell before she covered my mouth. "And don't you think about it." She said. "Eww Hartmann did you lick my hand." "Maybe." Erica answered. "You're a solider of Karlesland..." "Don't start on one of your tangents now Barkhorn." I said cutting her off causing Chris to laugh. "Now that's what we fight for." I comment off handedly. "What?" Barkhorn asked. I just gestured to Chris's laughing form. "Oh." They both said.

Soon we had to leave. "Hey Chris." I said stopping in the doorway. "Get well soon, and don't eat it all at once." I then toss her a chocolate bar causing her to break into a wide grin. "What took you so long?" Barkhorn asked as I caught up with them. "Nothing you need to worry about." I say with a smile. "Best thing I spent five bucks on though." "And what would that be." Erica asked as we reached the car only to find a letter left on the hood. "So who left this?" Erica asked. "Don't know." I answer. "Ahh, no clue." Answered Barkhorn as she picked it up. "Let's see. Mina Dietlinde Wilcke." Erica read off the envelope. "Isn't that the commanders name?" I asked. "Yes, that's odd." Barkhorn said. "What is?" I asked. "Wouldn't they just deliver it to her via the postal service or in person instead." Barkhorn explained. "Yea that is strange. We'll have to ask commander about it after we get back." I say. "Lets go." Getting into the drivers seat I saw Barkhorn get in beside me and open the letter. "It could be from a lover. I suggest don't read it." I said. "Commander doesn't have a lover." She responded. "Plus it's to strange, wouldn't a lover use the post system." "Yea." I say as I pull out of our parking spot.

Driving down the road I finally ask. "What does it say?" "'Don't get involved, you know too much' what does that mean?" She asks no one. "It could be my investigation on my past? Probably not but still it's a possibility." I answer. "Maybe it's meant for someone else with the same name?" Hartmann said. "That's absurd Hartmann, there's no way it could be that." Barkhorn shoots it down. "Barkhorns right Erica, it's not possible, what do we do? What do we do?" I ponder. "We ask commander about it." Barkhorn states. "Alright." Erica and I agree. "Until we get back to base enjoy the ride." I say while tuning into a Voyageur folk song station. 'V'la l'bon vent' came on.

"I apologize but I opened it to see what was inside. 'Don't get involved. You know too much.' What does that mean?" Barkhorn asked Commander. "Very intriguing." Hartmann said. "Minna has nothing to hide. Right, Commander?" Major said. "Oh, I'm sorry. That's right. No secrets. We've simply been investigating the Neuroi further." Commander said. "So what does this note have to do with that?" Barkhorn asked. "Any idea who might have sent it to you?" Hartmann asked. "Too many of them to keep track of." Major answered. "I agree Major but there are a few I could guess at." I said. "It's true. There are many in the military who voice their opposition to us. I'm sure they'd love to see the Witches disbanded." Commander explained. "But I can take a guess as to who would send such a foolish warning. There's one reason he did. He must have gotten his hands on something big. I don't know what. We're close to it or he wouldn't be scared." Major spoke. "Who is he?" Barkhorn asked. "Trevor Maloney. He's a general in the air force." Commander and I said both with extreme distaste at the name. "That fucker has balls though, I'll admit that." I continue receiving a few strange looks from everyone else. "It's a saying, means he has the gall to do something." I explain. "For now you're all dismissed." Commander ordered.

I walked off to the hanger to smoke and check that my striker hasn't been messed with. Arriving I lit one up and looked around for anyone that could disturbe me. "No one, just how I like it." I mutter. Walking over to my striker I hear the alarm go off. "Shit." I say as I kick off my shoes and socks before jumping into my striker. "One unit. Sector 23. East grid. On the direct course for London." Commander Said over the radio. "Commander ready to launch." I respond. "Alright go." She says. "Commander, this is Perrine. Miyafuji and I are up training. We're closest to that location. We will intercept!" I heard Perrine over the radio. "Training now? I never authorized extra training. Your orders are to maintain your current position. Understood?" Commander said. "Yes, ma'am." I heard Perrine answer.

"Alright where is this bogey." I say outloud scanning the skies for it. "Come out, come out wherever you are little Neuroi, I just want to pump you full of lead." "Where is it? I should be getting close by now. Found it!" I heard Yoshika say. "It's so small. But it has to be a Neuroi. I should be able to take this one down by myself. The safety's still on! Got it! What's going on? It looks like a human." Just then I spot her flying near a human shaped Neuroi. "Fuck. YOSHIKA GET OUT OF THERE! FLY AWAY!" I shout out to her before diving on the Neuroi only to stop halfway because I saw I flying around Yoshika like a witch. "The fuck is it doing." I say outloud watching it and Yoshika fly straight until it spotted me. "Fuck." I mutter as I flies up towards me. Leveling my Vickers at it I realize that I couldn't shoot it. "Why now of all times." I say as my fingers stop moving and my fear starts to rise. "Stop fucking with me basterd." I say only for Yoshika to fly up beside me and say. "It appears to be trying to communicate." "I don't care we should just kill it." I respond only for it to place it's hand on my forehead, the sudden rush of memories, the times I spent typing on a computer for classes, my first nose bleed, my whole life flashed before my eyes. Letting the sling take care of the Vickers in my right hand I placed my hand on my forehead. Trying to stop the pain from the sudden rush of memories. "Stefan! You alright?" Yoshika asked as I had backed away from the Neuroi. "I'm fine. No I'm more than fine." I say with a big grin plastered on my face. "My memories, most have returned." "That's amazing." "Yes it is Yosh, Yes it is."

"The other Neuroi started imitating Sanya singing. Could they be trying to be like us? What if... what if they're trying to communicate with us?" Yoshika theroized. "So, um... it's nice to meet you. I mean, what's your name? Wait. Do Neuroi have names? You're pretty different from the other Neuroi, huh?" Yoshika asked the Neuroi. "Yosh the only way that we can communicate is by hand signals or something like that. It's unlikely we could ever understand each other's language." I state.

"Are you trying to play game with me? Hey! Wait up! C'mon! You're too quick for me. I'm laughing. I'm laughing with the Neuroi.Hey! I just don't understand. You don't act like you could be our enemy." Yoshika said. "Yosh stop following it. It could still be dangerous." I said while following Yoshika. "What do you think you're doing, Miyafuji?" I heard Major shout from behind me. Turning around I saw her. "Sakamoto!" I heard Yoshika shout back. "Shoot that thing! Shoot it, Miyafuji!" She shouted back. I quickly pointed my guns at it but couldn't bring myself to shoot. "Sakamoto! You don't understand!" Yoshika shouted back blocking my shot. Thank you Yosh. "What are you waiting for? Just shoot it!" Major shouted back. "No, please wait!" Yoshika shouted back. "Don't be fooled! It's just mimicking you!" Major again shouted. "No, it's not! Please just wait!" Yoshika responded. "Then I'll do it!" Major said as she raised her gun only for a laser to be fired at her. "Damn you!" She said as she put up her shield. Only for it to pass right through. "Major!" Perrine shouted before diving for her. "Sakamoto! Sakamoto!" Yoshika shouted before doing the same. "Major!" Perrine said as she caught her. "What was that? What just happened?" I heard Commander say but I was to busy chasing the Neuroi to respond. "Sakamoto was shot by the Neuroi!" I heard Yoshika respond. "She put up her shield but she's hurt pretty badly!" I heard Backhorn say which had surprised me as I hadn't seen her. "Listen to me, Lieutenant. You will pursue the Neuroi!" Commander said. "But the major needs attention!" Barkhorn argued. "Pursue right now!" Commander shouted. "Understood..." Barkhorn said reluctantly. "Ignore that order Barkhorn I'm on the fuckers tail. Deal with the Major." I say. "Mio..." commander muttered over the radio. "Major, please be okay..." Perrine said. "Please open your eyes. Can you hear me? Sakamoto, please, answer. Sakamoto!" Yoshika said trying to wake the Major.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6

"Major, can you hear me? I'm here. Everything's gonna be all right, major. I promise! Please answer me! Do something!" Perrine said panicking. "Are you okay? I've got you." Lynne said as we caught Yoshika after she stumbled back from healing the Major. "No, it's all my fault. Sakamoto, c'mon! Please wake up! You have to... for me. Open your eyes! Please..." Yoshika Said while trying to heal the Major lord only to pass out for a minute. "Yoshika!" Lynne said panicking too. "Let go me, right now! I'm fine!" Yoshika said. "Yosh! You aren't fine! You are to weak to continue! And if you do you could kill yourself." I said harshly. "Sergeant Miyafuji, calm down." Commander said while approaching effectively cutting any protest Yoshika had down. "Minna." Barkhorn said. "Major! Major... Barkhorn Miyafuji!" Perrine said as Yoshika fainted. "No! Yoshika! Do you need a doctor? Are you okay? Can you hear me? Yoshika!" Lynne said. "Yoshika." I say somewhat worried for her.

"How are you feeling?" Lynne asked as Yoshika sat up in her bed. We had moved her after she passed out. "Ah, fine..." she responded. "That's good to hear." I say sitting down at the foot of her bed. "You're up at least. That's good." Lynne says. "Where am I? Is she gonna be okay? Sakamoto! What happened to her? Answer me, Lynne!" Yoshika asked. "You're in your room. We don't know and you saw what happened to her. She got shot doing her job." I respond as if I was commenting on the weather.

"All this is because of you! Well, say something! Or are you still waking up from your damn nap?" Perrine shouted. "She passed out from using all her power to help Major Sakamoto..." Lynne tried to explain. "Would just shut up?" Perrine shouted. "No, I won't! You're not being fair! Yoshika was trying to help!" Lynne shouted back. "And look how much good it's done!" Perrine shouted back. "Both of you shut the hell up!" I shout as Yoshika runs over to the Majors side to restart healing her. "Yoshika, wait!" Lynne called after her before trying to follow but I held her back. "Don't do it, let her show us her strength." I said. "Please wake up." I heard Yoshika mutter.

"Yoshika, look! I think we've got a pulse!" Lynne said. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding. "Sakamoto!" Yoshika exclaimed. "Major! Please hang in there!" Perrine worried. "Can you hear us?" Yoshika asked the Major. "Be right back. I'm gonna go get the doctor!" Lynne said as she rushed off. "C'mon, I don't get it. I'm giving all I've got!" Yoshika said wondering why the Major isn't waking up. "Oh please." Perrine said even more worried. "I'm so scared. I need help. I wish mam and granma were here..." Yoshika said sounding scared. "Well, they're not! So you're just gonna have to get trying! I'm sorry. It's just you're the only one who can help. Please don't give up, Miyafuji. Are you listening to me?" Perrine responded to her. "Yosh, remember, we're here for you. You got us to help you along the way." I supported her. "I'm the only one? You're right. I'm the only one who can help her now. I'm not giving up!" Yoshika said now with determination. "Thank you..." Perrine whispered. "I can do this. Just concentrate..." Yoshika said to herself.

After the doctor dismissed us I finally got some time to look back on what I now remembered. 'Well I remember all up until the time I was slumped over at my computer asleep on a Saturday night. My brother was a a friends house and my parents had gone out on a date, even though they've been married some 30 odd years. After that nothing. I remember I had just finished binge watching the strike witches series and had passed out afterwards. I should hold this info back, no need for the others to realize that I'm from some further world with no Neuroi, in their place are the first and second world wars. But if they find out I'll likely be shot. Now I've got to deal with the warlock coming soon and the dinergation of the 501st.' I rambled on in my head. 'Ah fuck it, I'll just go with the flow. Maybe I could knock general incompetent down a few pegs.' I smirked at that thought.

I was waiting in my room for the most likely out come of what happens to yoshika and am waiting for nightfall. Then I would sneak out my window and get to Yoshika's she was just on the other side. About third story and facing the other way. Meaning I'm gonna have to climb out my window down the wall walk around to Yoshika's window and scale up to her window with no equipment. That's about when I heard knocking at the door. "Come in!" I absentmindedly called out. And in walked Lynne dragging a sad Yoshika behind her. "I just heard from Yoshika, you remember what happened to you right?" She asked. "Yea but it's real foggy like I can't see my hand infront of my face foggy. I can't remember faces or names just places I've been." I lie.

"Hmm. I know! Let's take a bath together! You're probably drained. This will help! C'mon! Hurry it up!" Lynne said after a few minutes of silence, dragging Yoshika out. "'kay! Just a minute!" Yoshika said as she broke free and left for her room.

"Here we are!" Lynne said while dragging me in by my hand, I simply let her guide me as I could only really make out the auras, and they didn't help much when it came to this place. "Over here." Yoshika called over to everyone else in the room. "Hey, Yoshika. I heard that you got confined your room. You have lucky. That could actually be fun." I heard Shirley shout. "Yeah. She's been a lot worse, Shirley got the imprisonment penalty 5 times." Lucchini said. "Hey, what the hell! It was 4 times. Learn how to count!" Shirley exclaimed. "I win. 6 times." I heard Erica say from deeper in the bath. "I have to tell you something. It's about the Neuroi. I think the one I met was different from the others. It was friendly. It made me think that maybe not all of them are bad. Maybe you don't have to fight them all..." Yoshika exclaimed. "What the hell are you talking about?" I watched as Barkhorns aura approached Yoshika's. "Please calm down." Lynne said somewhere off to my right. "I'm saying back there I felt like we understood each other." Yoshika continued, ignoring Lynne. "Really? Do you realize what they've done to us all these years? They've done nothing but terrorize people. Are you trying to say that you're on their side now?" Barkhorn shouted getting really close to Yoshika. "I'm just talking about one. This one was different!" Yoshika said. "Strangely it was diffrent than any other Neuroi I've ever encountered." I comment while slipping into the water up to my neck. "Do you really think you fought enough of them to make that distinction?" Barkhorn asked. "Yes, yes I do. I've fought so many I've lost count." I stated. "I've heard of a human shaped one appearing but never seen one." Erica said. "They are common in south east Asia." I said quietly. "Did it appear at the Kauhava base? 'cause that's just a rumor." Erica asked. "But wasn't the singing Neuroi human shaped?" I heard Sanya say. She was somewhere to my right. "Who cares? The whole thing was just a trap!" Eila said sitting close to Sanya. "Yoshika, this is supposed to be relaxing. Cheer up! Gotcha!" I heard Lucchini say, and I assumed she was trying to fondle Yoshika, all this was confirmed when Yoshika shouted. "Francesca, stop!" "Lucchini!" Lynne suddenly said as Eila asked Sanya. "So do you think you've got any bigger?" "No..." I heard Sanya respond. "Yoshika's aren't big enough yet." Lucchini said clearly upset about it. "Francesca, why are you looking at me like that? Nooo!" I heard Lynne say while the water splashed. "Shirley. Now this is what I'm talking about." I heard more splashing before it stopped suddenly. Then Erica spoke to Barkhorn. "Wow, I wonder if that's any fun." "No, it's stupid!" Barkhorn said before suddenly shouting. "What do you think you're doing!" Which caused me to jump and on instinct I opened my eyes for just a second. Receiving a good view of Barkhorns chest being fondled by Erica. Quickly I shut my eyes again. "Hey, yours are really big and soft, Trudy." Erica said. "Not helping Erica, really not helping." I say to Erica. "These things are completely useless in combat!" Barkhorn shouted. "These things?" Shirley asked.

After the incident in the bath, I prepared to help Yoshika escape and get more information, quietly I finished cleaning some of the arms I would take with me, my webley, my Lee Enfield and finally my Vickors. Finally I had finished. Sliding open the window I slide out. Standing on the window below me I closed my window. Sliding down the wall I hit the ground rolling. I quickly moved to get under Yoshikas window. Getting there, I climb up to her window.

*tap tap* *tap tap*

The sound of my knuckles rapping against her window. "Who's there?" I heard Yoshika say from the inside. "It's me Yosh, open up." I respond. "Stefan?" She said somewhat surprised. "Open the window and we'll find out about the human shaped Neuroi." I said. "Oh. Right. Let's go." She said as she opened the window to come join me. "Alright follow me." I said while going back down and catching her after she slipped.

Walking silently towards our strikers I heard Lynne say. "Yoshika! Stefan!" Quietly I prepared to draw my webley, I didn't want to shot Lynne nor any of the girls but if I had to I would. "Oh, Lynne." Yoshika said somewhat surprised. "Please don't do this. If they find out you left you'll get much worse confinement." Lynne pleaded. It reminded me of the anime but I wasn't going to tell her that. "It's just something I have to do." Yoshika said sticking to the script. "Look. I don't know anything about the Neuroi but I know you. You're someone who doesn't give up. On anything or anyone you really care about. That's why... that's why I'm going to go with you!" She said. "What?" Yoshika And Myself questioned. "I'm gonna go get ready!" Lynne said as she turned to get ready. "No, Lynne, you can't come!" Yoshika said cutting her off. "Why not? 'cause I'm not good enough?" Lynne asked. "No, it's because it's something we have to do alone." I stated. "Please don't tell anyone we left." "Please promise you'll come back soon." She said. "Uh-huh." Yoshika responded. "Can't promise anything." I said. "I'll be waiting here for you." Lynne said. "Okay." Yoshika responded before we got in our strikers and took off.

"I think I was around here, somewhere." Yoshika said while we looked around. Only I was armed. Suddenly it appeared before us and then proceeded to fly away. "Wait!" Yoshika called after it before following. "Yosh, wait for me. I'm not interested in finding out what the gals at base will do to me when they find me out here."

 **"** It's like a hall of clouds." Comments as we follow the Neuroi into the Neuroi best. "Yea it does. Keep an eye out for anything." I answered.

"What is this? Is that the... core? Is that us? Sakamoto, no! A Neuroi fragment? Where is that? That's me!" Yoshika said while the images of memories spun around us. I then spotted one that I didn't know. It was this giant robot like a transformer from those old animated movies. You know like the old tv shows. Think they still play it on teletoon retro or something like that. Looking closer I saw a Neuroi core being placed in it.

Just as Yoshika noticed it the Human shaped Neuroi disappeared. "Wait! Come back!" Yoshika called out after it. "Hey, where did you go?" Yoshika asked it. "I don't know but we better leave. Let's go, follow me." I respond before leading Yoshika along. As we exited we encountered the tansformer thing, which reminded me of Starscream. You know the guy who wanted to rule the decepticons and destroy the autobots. Yea him except you know, no sreachy voice and no missiles, on and it wasn't a transformer. As we bumped into it, it started shooting around me and trying to hit Yoshika. "Lets go NOW!" I shout as I grab her collar and throw her through the hole the transformer thing made. Damn it needs a name... what was it in the anime... warrior... no... warlord... no... warlock... think so. I'll use that for now.

Flying after Yoshika we quickly found ourselves surrounded by some of the girls. "Yoshika, are you okay?" Lucchini asks. "What not worried about me, I say back. "Yeah. Did see where the Neuroi went?" Yoshika asked only for Commander to shut down the question with. "Sargent Miyafuji, you are detained for a crime of absence without leave. And Captain Morrison you are detained for helping Sargent Miyafuji escape and for fraternization with the enemy. Return to base!" "What why me. I simply left on my own accord with Yoshika simply being there. I didn't know she was supposed to be confined to her room." I feigned innocence. "Yea right." "Haven't you heard of innocent until proven guilty?" I ask only for everyone to ignore me.

"Hey, you look. Someone's there." Lucchini said finally breaking the silence. "Welcome back, Commander. Very good work." I heard the General I always referred to as incompetent because reasons we're about to find out. "It's that thing again!" Erica said breaking my train of thought. "That's the..." Yoshika started to say before being interrupted by Mr. Incompetent. "Nicely done, Commander Minna." "I guess you're in charge, right? General Maloney." Commander responds. "Yes, I am. Here's a copy of the official transport order. So, Commander Mina. As of now, this base is under the direct command of the 1st Atrategic Airborne Assault Team. That's mouthful to say so we refer it to as Warlock." He responds. "Warlock?" Commander asks.

Then I start laughing. "I'm dying. Why does it look like a transformer. Are you making a micheal bay movie. You're missing a lot of explosions." I say as I start to roll around on the ground hugging my gut. "It looks like starscream. Just wait until it turns on you and we sent it to the bottom of the sea. Mr. Incompetent." "WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!" He shouts back. "Mr. Incompetent." I respond causing all the girls around me to give me a strange stare. "You think that because one is better than a handful of witches doesn't mean we are immediately useless. You could just move us to a different section of the front or to fight in low danger area or even in Asia. That's what any competent commander would do. Move his or her troops to anyplace they can be used to the upmost effect. Something you seem to be unable to think about." I continue.

He seems really pissed at me so he turns to Miyafuji. "Now that I have all the Witches present. Am I addressing Sergeant Yoshika Miyafuji." All the while the other witches were rounded up and brought to our group by Sten Mk II carrying soldiers. Causing me to laugh again. "More proof of incompetence." I say waving my hand towards the Sten's. "Sir." Yoshika responds to him. "You left the base in breach of military regulations. Isn't that right?" He asks. "Oh, no... I've seen that!" Finally says while looking at the warlock. "Are you referring to the Warlock?" He asks. "Yes, I've seen it. It was in a room with the Neuroi. Some sort of laboratory." She answers. "That's because it is. My god how dense are you people!" I finally shout. "Did any of you even bother to read the transcripts or maybe the manga or even watch the anime." I say all the while the girls are giving me strange looks. "You don't know what you talking about!" He shouted at us. "That's not true, I saw it!" Yoshika answered for us. "Answer my question now. You deserted your squad. Correct?" He snaps. "But how could we have deserted our squad if we're here?" I ask back. "You shut up, I have questions for you later!" He snaps at me. "Point that finger at me again and I'll break it off and shove it up your ass." I mutter. "Yes... but I..." Yoshika mumbled. "And you. I issued you orders to shoot this deserter down a moment you might contact." He said now turning on Commander. "Yes, but sir!" Commander responded trying to argue only to be cut off. "A junior officer flying military hardware in violation of house arrest, a senior officer disobeying shoot to kill orders from a general. The break down in the chain of command is clear. At times like this I am left with no other options to preserve military order. Commander Minna, be advised. The 501st Joint Fighter Wing has been dissolved. The Strike Witches are officially disbanded. You have each been reassigned back to your home country's main unit. That is all. Is that understood, Commander?" He asked her. "Understood, sir." Commander said. "No... the Witches are disbanded..." Yoshika said starting to go into shock. "Your unauthorized actions were the cause of all this, Sergeant Miyafuji." He said. "But I... I... I just..." she tried to defend herself. "No need to worry. We'll be fine. The Warlock has been designed to completely annihilate the Neuroi. Britannia no longer needs the protection of Witches" he said before Yoshikapassed out.

"Now Captain Morrison or should I say Beyak? You have helped Miyafuji escape her room then you insult a General and speak about highly classified matierials, you should be shot. But that would be a problem to my benifactor as it would kill the Neuroi core within you." He states while turning to face me. "Okay first off, classified my ass, second off, you stole me from my house, my family and friends and my world only to shove a fucking Neuroi core into my body and use me like an experiment like the CIA. I'm should place a bullet between your eyes and see if it cures your idiocy. Maybe electro shock therapt would do the trick, or how about a ice pick lobotomy." I shot back. "Now, now mister Morrison lets be civil. Otherwise you could be killed by one of the witches." He says gesturing to the looks of shock on their faces and on Commanders and Barkhorns a killing intent. "You know what General. How about I shove my boot so far up your ass that you'd be licking the polish off my heel." I respond. "How could you!" Barkhorn finally broke. "How long have you known?" "Since, well lets see three, four days ago. I've been thinking about it but never thought much. It never came to me to inform you of what's going to happen. Hell I'm not even supposed to exist here in this world. Do you think a male witch exists one that can basically tell the future." I say back. "Now General, do you really think that you can control the Neuroi core in there. Or maybe you believe that you could destroy it when it breaks free."

Then the General smirks, like a Bond villain when a body guard has a gun to Bond's head or some other trap like that. Glancing over my shoulder I spot a P08 Luger being held by Barkhorn, clearly she was pissed. "If I ever see you again, you're dead." She said with a hatred in her eyes. "You won't see me ever again. Don't worry." I say before turning to the General. "So, what do you want from me?" "Nothing much, just for you to never use magic again." He said as a remote appeared in his hand. There was an audible click of a button before I felt a sharp pain which caused me to kneel, clutching my chest, the Luger following my head. "Now you can run along. Maybe some unit will find you and send you back to your original unit. Just never talk about the warlock." The general stated. "Heh, What's to stop me from speaking about it. I know almost everything about it. I even know info you'd absolutely hate to hear." I said while shakely getting to my feet. "Just leave now!" Barkhorn snapped. "Fine." I say as I walk away from the group, towards the forest.

"M'en revenant de la jolie Rochelle, M'en revenant de la jolie Rochelle, J'ai rencontré trois jolies demoiselles.

C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut. C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut.

J'ai point choisi, mais j'ai pris la plus belle, J'ai point choisi, mais j'ai pris la plus belle, J'ly fis monter derrière moi, sur ma selle.

C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut. C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut.

J'y fis cent lieues sans parler avec elle, J'y fis cent lieues sans parler avec elle, Au bout d'cent lieues, elle ma demandit à boire,

C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut. C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut.

Je j'ai menée aupres d'une fontaine Je j'ai menée aupres d'une fontaine Quand elle fut là, elle ne voulut point boire.

C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut. C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut.

Je l'ai menée de logis de son père. Je l'ai menée de logis de son père. Quand elle fut là, elle buvait à plein verre

C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut. C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut.

À la santé de son père et sa mère À la santé de son père et sa mère à la santé d'celui que son coeur aime

C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut. C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut." I sing as I walk off.

Reaching the woods I just stroll in still singing. Behind me I'm leaving confused faces as to why I'm singing. After what feels like many hours but was probably just two I find a clearing and start to set up camp. First I set up a small shelter, followed by gathering firework and setting up a lean-to where I would place all my fire wood. Finishing that I realized that the birds started flying away from a section of the forest that was moving towards my general direction. "Now who could that be?" I wondered as I build a fire, though I was holding off lighting it. That's when I heard Barkhorn shout. "Hartmann we need to find him!" I knew exactly who "him" was, it was me. Grabbing my rifle and pistol, the only guns I was aloud to keep with me I quietly slipped further into the forest hoping to lose them. "He's on the move. Towards the east." I heard Commander speak. 'Shit' I thought as I realized that they had come prepared to either kill me or talk to me. Option one was the most likely, though option two was possible, slightly but still possible.

I stumbled across a good place to hunker down and prepare for a shot out. Laying down I sighted my rifle incase of emergencies, I only knew what kind of gun one of them was carrying. I could guess at Commanders but Erica's still eluded me. Using my aura to conceal myself was something I would have done but every time I tried to use magic I failed. Waiting was something I was good at, I was there on the ground waiting for them to appear when I felt a tap on my shoulder.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 7

I felt a tap on my shoulder. I quickly rolled over and brought my rifle to bear on the three girls. "Here to kill me?" I ask. "If you are then go ahead and try." "No, we need your help for something. That warlock gives me some bad vibes." Commander spoke. "So you didn't come after me to hunt me down and execute me?" "No! We need you to help us sneak in and look at the files on that thing!" Barkhorn snapped. "So I'm gonna live? And Barkhorns not going to shoot me. Alright I'll help you get it on one condition." I say while standing up. "And what's that." Barkhorn said still angry at me. "Once we capture Maloney I get the remote to allow me to use magic again. After that I'll leave you girls alone. You won't see me unless you bump into me over in Asia." I answer. "Why Asia?" Erica asks. "Because I'm going back to my original unit. Or I might be placed in some flying unit there, you never know." I respond.

Quietly they followed me along a dirt path towards the base. I had passed my rifle to Commander, stating that. "I want this damn rifle back or else." She was at the back of the group while I was at the front followed by Barkhorn then Erica. I quietly motioned for everyone to take a knee. "Alright, if we are sneaking in then we'll have to avoid the main enterances. Did any of you leave your window unlocked?" I asked them. "No." Was the unnamuse replie. "Well fuck. That means we will have to sneak in through my window. At least that way I can pack." I comment. "Okay follow me and do as I do. You know Monkey see, Monkey do." "We aren't monkeys." Barkhorn said. "Techicnically we are. We're homosapians with a mix of Neanderthal for anyone of european decent." I respond. Quietly I slip behind a guard and knock him out before dragging his body into the bushes. Silently they follow me towards the wall. We reach the wall and then I peak around the corner. No one. Moving swiftly I reach the space under my window and start to climb. The girls follow me first Erica then Commander and finally Barkhorn, who slips abit causing me to have to hold onto her arms while she tried to regain her footing. "I'll pull you in." I whisper to her. "Erica come here and help me once I get her upper body in." "Okay." Was my response. Pulling her up slowly, she makes it just past her upper body before Erica helps me by grabbing her around the waist and throwing her onto me. "Erica I don't think that was a smart move." I comment as I quickly stop myself and Barkhorn from falling to the floor. "Now give me a second." I say as I start to move around the room quickly yet quietly packing everything I'm going to need. My spare uniform, my wedge and barrett, my buck knife and all my booze plus cigarettes.

There was a slight sound when I laid my suitcase on the bed. "Alright let's go." I say as I exit the room first. I then walked down the hallway quietly until I reached a bend. Peaking around again I spot the hall to the Mess, the way to the lounge, and finally the way to the briefing room. No one was there. I quickly moved towards the lounge. Then I took a side hall towards the control tower. "They're in the control tower." Commander said as they took the hall after me. "I know." I say back. Getting close to the doors I saw two guards standing watch. Smiling I comment. "Who's ready for a fun time." Only to be met with silence. "I'll take that as a yes." Now I had to time this perfectly or else it would fail.

"Knock, knock mother fuckers!" I call out as I send the two guards flying through the doors. Striding in I look around. "What, no welcoming party?" I ask. "Morrison we aren't here to have a party." Barkhorn snapped as the two guards started to get up. I simply grab their collars and with a heave, toss them across the room. "I was planing stealth but this is more fun." I answer before grabbing a third guard that was in the room and smashing his face into my knee which came to greet him. "Sleep tight." I comment as he falls unconscious. "Solider, sailor. toiler, tailer. My fist punishes all without distinction." I say as I start to walk menencingly towards Maloney.

Then the iconic Batman fight sounds happen, you know the "wham" "pow" "bam" stuff. Or put more simply I grabbed him and beat him black and blue. Broke his jaw and nose, gave him two black eyes and fractured his skull, the last one I assumed. "Anyone else." I ask. A series of no's nope's and don't think so's followed. "Damn, do you guys know how frustrating this job is? It's fucking exhausting." I whine as I search his pockets for the remote. "What exactly are you planning to do with us?" Maloney managed to finally say. "Well my original plan was to mow you all down or execute you all terrorist style but they convinced me not to." I explain as I find the remote and start analyzing it.

"What do you think, Minna?" Barkhorn asked. "You certainly have been keeping busy, haven't you? I guess it's not an easy task deceiving the Witches, is it? The only way for you to become stronger than the Witches was to use Neuroi technology. You try to hide your method by forcing us to disband. If we were gone who else would even think to question you. A decent plan. However Sergeant Miyafuji's actions exceeded military understanding and caused you to slip." Commander said. "I wish... I wish we had known to trust Miyafuji's instincts earlier." Barkhorn comments while I start to leave. "Where do you think you're going mister." "Well I'm leaving like the deal was. You know I get to leave afterwards." I explain. "Also I'm going to help Yosh out." "Hey, this doesn't look good. I think the Akagi is sinking. It looks like the Warlock is fighting a Witch. But who is it?" Erica said drawing all attention to her. "Sergeant Miyafuji!" Commander said After using her magic to find out who, though I already knew. "Are you sure?" Barkhorn asks. "Impossible! You don't have any Strikers to use. Everything is locked away in the hangar, isn't it?" Maloney states. "No, not Mio's striker. She packet it away in her wheel chair and Yoshika is using it to fight the Warlock." I explain. "you would know that if you were competent." I say while patting his head like he was a small child. "What? How? Not bad at all, Miyafuji." Erica asks. "I've heard to deceive your enemies first deceive your friends. That sounds just like Sakamoto." Barkhorn comments. "I'm betting Miyafuji's got her hands full just trying to buy time. Let's go!" Commander said before she started to run towards the hanger. "Yeah, you're right. C'mon!" Erica called before following Commander. "Hey, wait!" Barkhorn called. "Go ahead I'll tie 'em up." I said while shooing her away. once she left the room I grabbed the toughest cable I could find and tied it tightly around the group of soldiers and then tied it really tightly around Maloney's body. I also set it up so he could only go a few feet before it started to choke him. "Have fun." I comment. "Hope the queen's in a good mood." I then proceed to run after the girls and catch up to them as Barkhorn starts to lift the giant steel beam.

After we get into our strikers I look over at the beam. "Since I can't kill Maloney then maybe I can't shove that into the warlock and parade it about." I comment. "Really Morrison." Eila said. She and Sanya had been with the girls when I arrived. "What. Bread for bread, blood for blood." I answer. "It's an old Ukrainian saying. Means that if you do something to someone they can do something as equally bad to you. And he effectively killed my family so why not kill him." "Because that's illegal!" She shouted in my ear. "Hi, Lynne!" Being shouted by Lucchini brought my attention to her. "Hope they don't kill me." I mutter. "Hey, Lynne, we're over here." Erica called out. "You're late. We'll let it slide this time." Barkhorn said. "Hurry it up. You're the last to arrive." Commander said. "Right. Yes ma'am!" Lynne answered. "Ah fuck my life. Let's get this over with." I say.

"No ones gonna put a bullet in my head if I leave after this right?" I ask outloud only for no one to respond. "Really? We aren't three here." Again nothing. "I'll take your silence as permission to leave now." I state as I start to leave only for a Mg 42 to be shoved into my back. "You're going to help us mister "I'm from the future", got it." Eila said. "Why do I have to." I whine trying to get out of this and find a way home. "Because you know how this turns out." Commander broke in. "So why can't i just sit off on the side lines?" I ask. "WILL YOU JUST! SHUT! UP!" Barkhorn snaps at me. "Well Barkhorn, I am as stubborn as a mule and as annoying as a goose so get use to it." I respond before another two Mg 42's are pointed at me. "Fine." I say before pretending to zip my lips shut, lock them and throw away the key.

Arriving I chose to slam head long into the warlock from behind. "Always watch your six. Manfred von Richthofen aka the red Baren." I say. "Who's Manfred von Richthofen?" Barkhorn asks finally catching up with me. "The man who wrote the book on dogfighting." I answer before flying up and coming back down onto the warlock with the sun behind me. Slamming into it again before I bounce away I watch as the others attack it and send it into the sea. "We did it!" Yoshika celebrated. "Nice work, Yoshika!" Lynne congratulated. "Thanks for waiting." Shirley said. "Yoshika!" Lucchini called as she flew up beside her. "You're all back!" Yoshika said excitedly. "I'm quite impressed! Nice work!" Major commends her. "Thank you." Yoshika said. "Looks like you won't be needing these anymore then." Barkhorn said holding Yoshikas strikers. "Three ... two... one." I count down quietly. "That may not be true. Look over there." Eila said holding a terro card. "The Warlock... and the Akagi!" Major said in surprise. "Yup now time for round two!" I shout as I crack my knuckles. Smiling I ready my Vickers for combat. "Perrine, thank you." Major said as Perrine helped her into her striker.

Flying around we all broke off into groups though once again I was alone. But hey now I could fight all out nothing holding me back. "'kay. Letting go." I heard Commander say over the radio. "Don't worry about me. Wait. Am I seeing things?" Major responds. I know immediately what she's seeing, it's that the Akagi and the Warlock have fused to create the aklock?... the Waragi?... the Wakagi?... or something like that. "The Warlock and Akagi have fused together. It's beyond our control at this point." Commander said. "Still, we have to try. This thing is no longer just a Warlock or a Neuroi. It's completely different. We're not going to give up. If the Witches can't stop it then no one else will be able to." Major said.

"It's coming." Sanya told us as it broke the cloud cover and sailed just above it. "All right. Listen up! All units, prepare to attack. Our targets are the Akagi and the Warlock!" Commander spoke. 'Hey I'm not a target, atlest officially.' I thought. "Right!" Everyone else answered. "The core is in the Akagi's engine." Major called out. "I don't think we'll be able to destroy it from the outside. Which means we'll have to go inside." Commander explained. "I'll go. I know my way around the interior." Major said. "No, Major, I'll go!" Yoshika shot her down. "I'll be her backup." Lynne said. "Well, I know little about the inside. We don't want you getting lost." Perrine said. "Thank you, Perrine." Yoshika thanked her. "Don't thank me. It's not like this is some kind of gesture." Perrine said. "Well, it'll be very comforting for me to know that you're with them." Major cut in. "Right!" Perrine responded. "Now, the rest of us will provide cover for them and clear a path so they can fly safely." Commander ordered. "Roger!" We all answered. "Commence attack!" Commander ordered before I dived down and strafed the deck of the Akagi. "You're not gonna let the others take all the credit for that, are you?" Barkhorn asked Erica before she flew down beside the Anti-aircraft batteries. "Hey! Wait!" Barkhorn called after her. "See you later!" Erica shouted back. "Strum!" She said as she activated her magic. "Hey, that's my job!" Barkhorn said while using her Mg 42's as baseball bats. I tried it with my Vickers while using my strength magic. "Hot damn." I whistle as I survey they damage. Thrning for another attack run a laser grazed my side, which I barely noticed. Diving back into the freigh I shot up a couple of Anti-aircraft guns before breaking off. The twisting and diving had pulled me away from everyone else. A group of lasers shot at me, putting up my shield, I saw Yoshika, Lynne and Perrine enter the Akagi through a giant hole that was created. "Give 'em hell girls. Give 'em hell." I comment.

Ducking under another laser I twist around and watch as everyone is starting to be hard pressed to help in some way, shape or form. "They'll have to pick up the pace. We won't last much longer out here." I mutter while spinning away from another laser. With a huff I dive down to the deck again only for a laser to intercept and prevent me from getting closer. Backing up I end up near Barkhorn and Erica. "How are you girls holding up?" I ask as they fire away. "Better than you Morrison." Barkhorn responds. "I feel fine, and I haven't been shot in the back yet." I comment. "But you have been hit." Erica says as she points to my wound on my left side. "Where did that come from?" I wonder as I look it over. "Ah well we'll never know." I say while reloading.

Suddenly it bursts into the white shards they often burst into when destroyed. "They did it!" Shirley called out. "It's Yoshika!" Lucchini shouted. Floating up beside Barkhorn I watched as Lynne hugged Yoshika and said. "Yoshika... You did it, Yoshika! You're amazing! I don't know how you figure that out, but, wow!" "What's that?" Perrine said looking over to Gallia. "Look at the hive!" Major exclaims. "It's disappearing!" Shirley stated. "We won!" Lucchini cheered. "Gallia... my homeland is freed... after all this time." Perrine muttered. "Amazing! You're amazing, Yoshika!" Lynne cheered. "Huh, I guess we can celebrate this win." I comment while smiling. "So that's it." Major says. "Yeah. Great work, Witches. All units, return to home and Morrison you have some explaining to do." Commander orders. "Yes, ma'am!" Is our unanimous reply.

"So What is it you want to know?" I ask while taking a seat on a couch with a glass of water in my hand. "A few things." Barkhorn states. "Shoot." I asnswer. "Alright, who are you really?" Commander asks. "Well my first name is Connor and my last name is actually Beyak, with Stefan Morrison sitting between those two." I answer. "Where are you from originally?" Barkhorn asks next. "Now that is easy. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada which is my worlds Farawayland." I respond before taking a sip. "What happened to you that got you brought to our world?" Yoshika asks. I assume she was filled in at some point, either when she awoke from her fainting spell or when I was cleaning myself up after being shot. "That, my friend, is still fuzzy. I can't remember much more than falling asleep at my computer then waking up in a hospital in this universe." I answer. "Where are you going from here?" Shirley asks. "Simple. Where I belong, the frontlines whether as a infantryman or a witch. Chances are I'll be stuck in south east Asia." I answer. "Your last name." Sanya asks. "Isn't it Orussian?" "Well technically no it's not. But in this world I think it is? If I could see a map I might be able to confirm where it's from." I answer before commander leaves and returns with a map. Leaning over the map I look over Eastern Europe. "Galicia... Galicia... Galicia..." I muttered while looking for it. Finally I found it. "It comes from about here." I say while circling an area between Dacia and Orussia. "It comes from an ancient kingdom of Galicia, it then became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire before my family moved to Canada on the advice of a cavalry officer. Then they preceded to aid Canada in their fight against the central powers and the Axis powers. Even though they were discriminated against and imprisoned because of where they are from." I explain some of my family history. "Now tomorrow I'm leaving for Brandon, for furthers orders. So now I'm off to bed, I leave at 0400." I say before getting up and starting to leave before another question stopped me in my tracks. "Will we meet again?" Lynne asked. "I can't answer that..." I respond before leaving.

Entering my room I notice a letter left on my bed. Closing and locking my door I approached it. Opening the letter I read through it, then again and again. It read simply 'enjoy your returned memories.' "What the hell? Who sent this?" I asked outloud before checking who had. It was Dr. Miyafuji. The man who sent me the first letter. "How..?" I wondered.

The next morning I had my luggage packed up and strapped up. "Good bye..." I solemnly said looking over my shoulder to the base. Checking my watch, it read 0330 hours. "Alright I'm off." I said as I fixed the wedge on my head. Grabbing my Vickers I started up my engines and started to roll down the runway until I heard feet pounding against the concrete floor. Glancing over I saw Yoshika and Lynne at the door. "Good bye." I said with a salute. "It was fun serving with you." "WAIT!" The sudden shout startled me. Looking over to my front I saw Barkhorn standing there. I stop and roll over to her. "Good bye, Captain Barkhorn. Tell Chris I said bye aswell." I say with a salute. "I won't forgive you if you leave now." She said. "You won't have to. I'll be out of your hair forever. Chances are I won't see next year." I respond. "You better. Chris would hate it if you didn't." She said. "Give her this for me then, will ya." I say handing her a chocolate bar. I again roll off and this time I make it away. Tuning my radio to the intercoms I start to sing again. "M'en revenant de la jolie Rochelle, M'en revenant de la jolie Rochelle, J'ai rencontré trois jolies demoiselles.

C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut. C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut.

J'ai point choisi, mais j'ai pris la plus belle, J'ai point choisi, mais j'ai pris la plus belle, J'ly fis monter derrière moi, sur ma selle.

C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut. C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut.

J'y fis cent lieues sans parler avec elle, J'y fis cent lieues sans parler avec elle, Au bout d'cent lieues, elle ma demandit à boire,

C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut. C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut.

Je j'ai menée aupres d'une fontaine Je j'ai menée aupres d'une fontaine Quand elle fut là, elle ne voulut point boire.

C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut. C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut.

Je l'ai menée de logis de son père. Je l'ai menée de logis de son père. Quand elle fut là, elle buvait à plein verre

C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut. C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut.

À la santé de son père et sa mère À la santé de son père et sa mère à la santé d'celui que son coeur aime

C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut. C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut."

the next eight hours of flight were exhausting arriving in Halifax I touch down for the night. "Sir, are you Captain Stefan Morrison?" A private asked me as I got out of my striker. "Yea I am. What's your name Private?" I ask. "It's Beyak Sir. I'm one of the mechanics for the strikers here." He answers. "Alright Private, my striker is fine, what is it that I'm needed for?" I ask. "It's a phone call from Britannia." He answers. "Alright lead the way I say with a small smile forming.

When I was lead to the phone I picked it up. "Hello, Who's this?" I ask only to hear someone say. "Enjoy your time on this planet while it lasts human Neuroi." Before hanging up. I visibly paled. "I need some sleep Private. Please lead me to my room for the night." I said stone faced.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8

"Sir message from command." A young private said while he ran up to me. "Hand it over." I responded holding out my hand. "It's a radio message sir." He said. "Alright lead the way." I answered before turning away from the jungle outside of the base. The base was situated in the middle of the Burmese jungle somewhere near the Indian border. It was a witch base though most of the witches were either brand new or veterans ready to retire. Myself being the oldest at 19. My shoot down count had risen greatly from a mere three to 337 kills. The massive waves of Neuroi were the reason for that. They were tough for anyone new but easy for the veterans, like myself and the commander, Mohinder Singh Pujji an ace pilot at that. He wasn't a witch but he was an excellent ace. He hailed from India fought as a pilot during the battle of Britannia and in Africa before being moved here and placed in charge of this base, a mix between witches, airmen and infantry. "Hey Morrison." I solider called out from one of the chess tables. "Care for a match?" "Sorry I have some work to do. Maybe later." I called back.

Shrugging off the rain coat I was wearing I looked around the room. Edwards, a Britannia pilot was standing guard at the door and then Elliot was over by the radioman William. The three were good people, strong yet kind. I enjoyed my time with them. William always had some sort of news to tell And was usually cheerful. Elliot was similar just less cheerful and more anti-social and finally Edwards the man was a legend on base he was alsmost as strong as me and if rumours were true he had destroyed an entire squadron of Neuroi single handily, though I thought it was played up. "William, what's wrong?" I ask. "Well squadron leader. It's not good, Gallian command is sending out radio messages to anyone who'll listen and it's not good news either. Apparently Venezia has fallen aswell as some of Romagna with extreme losses in their witch squadrons. They're asking for reinforcements mostly aswell as any help in manpower that can be provided." He explaines while handing me the head set. "Listen." "All allied commanding posts. The Neuroi that emerged in Venezian airspace yesterday is considerably stronger than the previous ones. Venezia fell the same day. In response, the Romagna-based 504th joint allied wing engaged the enemy and suffered massive casualties. They are no longer combat-capable." I heard them broadcast. "This is squadron leader Morrison with the farawayland and Britannian Air Force stationed in Burma, requesting sit-rep." I answer. "This is Gallian military command post." My eyes widen at the voice. "No, today can't be that day." I mutter to quiet for anyone else to hear. "Britannia Air Force Master Sargent Lynette Bishop, responding." "Lynne it's me. I'll be there in a few weeks. Try to hold on. Fight tooth and nail, we can't lose Romagna, if we do the war is practally lost, we'll be pushed back into the sea." I answer. "Morrison? Is that really you?" I heard Lynne ask. "No time Lynne I'm on my way." I answer before turning to Edwards. "Edwards go tell command that I'm going." I tell him. "Yes sir!" He snaps off a salute before going off. "Lynne." I turn back to the head set. "Continue with your transmission." "I don't know the details. We have requested reinforcements, but we don't have enough witches to mount a proper defense!" She says while my eyes open. "Impossible, even if we are low on witches we should still be able to defend Romagna." I mutter. "Also... we..." her transmission starts to break. "William, fix it now." I shout over to him. "I'm trying, I'm trying." "Elliot, prepare my strikers I'm flying tonight." I state. "But sir you are under command of Mohinder Pujji." She protests. "Actually I'm a freelancer that they hired basically. The Farawayland Air Force told me to head to any area in need of witches. And this place was very in need when I got here and now Romagna is in need and I'm leaving." I explain. "Sir we can't get in contact with Gallian command." William cut in. "Damn it all to hell!" I shout as I slam the headset down and run out. "Fuck it I'm going now!"

Reaching my tent I quickly pack up and strap everything on. Grabbing my Lee Enfield from the center pole I race out with it strapped onto my back. I race past a group of soldiers and around a bend in the path. I reach the door of the hanger sliding to a stop. "Elliot you better have my shit ready!" I shout as I race up to my striker to find Mohinder standing there with a file in his hand. "Seems like you anticipated the command Morrison." He jokingly said. "I don't have time corn bullshit Mohinder, just hand me the damn files." I say holding out my hand. "Here he answers while placing the file in my hand. "Read it while you fly Morrison, I don't want you slacking off." He calls after me. "Yea, yea." I call back. "And shave sometime before you reach Romagna." He calls out still joking.

I zoom down the runway. "Kick start, fighter launch, throttles at the full. Speed king, race to win, afterburners roaring, ghost like counterstrike, take 'em by surprise. Score 307 Isrealies rule the heavens." I sing while launching. Once I was in level flight I cracked open the folder and read through all the info. "Lets see join up with the Fuso witches flying out to help in the defense and find a wing to fight with. No wing man needed but advized for. Blah, blah, blah. Useless info, and more of that." I mutter as I fly throught the air.

One week later and I've almost joined up with the two witches. I continued to chew on my beef jerky for something to put in my stomach. "All troops in the area. This is the Venezian 1st battle fleet. We are currently engaging a Neuroi. Requesting backup immediately. Present coordinates..." suddenly crackled over the radio. "Aw fuck." I mutter while thumbing the safety on my Vickers. "Let's get ready to rumble!" I call out as I turn towards the coordinates. Kicking it up to gear I zoom towards coordinates. Looking towards the coordinates I watch as Neuroi shards fall towards the sea. "Well that's a waste." I mutter. "Wait! What!" I shout as I watch the pieces slowly come back together and form anew. "Haha!" I cheer. "Now for a real fight! Neuroi form engage!" I then feel the familiar feeling of my skin crawling and my vision tints red. The Vickers soon take the form of Neuroi lasers in their shape. "Lets go." I say as I get closer and closer. I watch as Shirley and Lucchini arrive followed by Lynne and Perrine and then Sanya and Eila arrive shortly afterwards, finally the three Karlesland girls arrive. I watch as they roll in and attack it. "Heh. No way all they're missing is me." I comment before rolling in and smashing my way through the Neuroi. "Wha..?" I heard Barkhorn say as she pulled off her attack run. "Looked like you girls could use a hand. Mind if I join." I comment as I pull back above the Neuroi. Aiming my new lasers at it I let loose a torrent of laser shots. It breaks into the clouds after a few connect with it. "Come on, number 338." I say as I follow closely behind with Sanya and Eila closing in on me. Sighting the Neuroi I watch as it breaks from the clouds and Sanya fires a salvo at it while I use the rockets as cover to advance. Then Erica uses her magic and carves a hole in its center where I fly throught after her shooting up the inside. Before joining Barkhorn in pumping it full of lead. "I love doing this." I comment as I fly around her. "Take this!" She shouts as she flips her guns around and smashes them into the Neuroi. I notice the core and notice the Major heading for the core. "I fly in with her dodging every attack and fire it back. I step side the giant laser as the Major passes me and halves the beam carrying her to the core. "There goes number 338." I shrug as the form deactivates to reveal me, floating for a couple seconds before the engines sputter. "Come on ol'chap stay together please." I say as the sputtering stops and so does one engine. "I'm gonna have to fix that." Looking around I notice everyone's looking at me. Suddenly Yoshika jumps at me and I try dodging but my other engine quits. "Ah fuck!" I shout as I start to plummet towards the ground only for Yoshika and Lynne to catch me. "Why are you here?" Barkhorn questions me. "Orders are orders Captain, and address the rank please." I say motioning to the insignia on my shoulders. I crack a cocky smile until a smack lands on my face. "Ow! What the hell Barkhorn! What was that for?" I question. "That was for leaving early." She said before she gives me a quick hug. "And that for returning in one piece." "I guess I deserved that. Anyway how's Chris?" I ask. "She's fine. Just wondering when you'll write." She answers before I give a small laugh. "Oh and you look like a young Santa, might want to shave sometime." She continues. "Oh and get rid of my glorious bush bread, Never!" I state.

I soon found myself on a rundown base that was going to be ours form now on. "I will now read your official orders from SCAP. Now that the members of the old 501st have returned, you are to intercept and destroy the new Neuroi which have invaded Romagna via the Adriatic Sea. We will be sending you the materials and items you need. But for now negotiate with the local commanders for them." Commander says before the Major looks over her shoulder and laughs. "Good job getting those orders." "Major General Galland signed the letter herself." Commander answered. "More like she was forced to sign it." Erica and myself comment at the exact same time. "Where's your respect, Hartmann, Morrison? Whatever you think about it, an order is an order." Barkhorn explains. "Whatever." We say together and smirk as Barkhorn gets annoyed. "Hey, Lynne, what does this mean?" Yoshika asks. "Um..." Lynne answers. "It means the 501st is officially reformed." I answer. "I am lieutenant Colonel Minna Wilcke. Below me are: Major Sakamoto Mio. Squadron leader Stefan Morrison. Captain Gertrud Barkhorn. Captain Charlotte Yeager. First Lieutenant Erica Hartmann. First Lieutenant Sanya Litvyak. First Lieutenant Perrine Clostermann. First Lieutenant Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen. Ensign Francesca Lucchini. Master Sargent Lynette Bishop. Sargent Miyafuji Yoshika. Here today we reform the 501st joint fighter wing, the strike witches!" "Roger!" We all answer unanimously.

"Commander, we should settle with who's sleeping with who." Major says. "You're right. I'll bunk with Erica, Miyafuji you with Lynne, Major with Perrine, Eila with Sanya, Shirley with Lucchini... now who does that leave us with." Commander responds. "Alright I'll go dig a fox hole." I volunteer. "No we can put you with Barkhorn." Commander shots me down. I glance over to Barkhorn to see how she's doing, her face has gone tomato red. "Hey Barkhorn you feeling alright? You look a bit red in the face." I ask. "NoI'mfine." She says so fast I have a hard time figuring out what she said. "Alright suit yourself." I say as I walk off to grab my stuff.

As I reach the door I stop and knock before asking. "Barkhorn may I come in?" "Yea, it's your room aswell." She states. "No I mean are you decent." I respond. "Oh" she says before pausing. "Now I am." She calls out. "Alright I'm coming in." I state as I slowly open the door. Looking around the room I notice a line of black tape and Barkhorn in bed. "That side of the line is yours." She says pointing to my right hand side. "Alright, good night and sweet dreams Barkhorn." I say as I undress down to my under garments and slip into bed placing my pistol underneath the pillow. "Yea you two." She responds rolling over to look away from me while I do the same.

The next morning I wake to find that. Arkhorn has already left, most likely to help Commander wake up Erica. "I'll swing by and see what's up." I mutter while getting dressed. I was in the middle pulling on my pants when Barkhorn came in. "Ah." She calls out as she covers her eyes, thought I could tell she was peaking. "Knock next time Barkhorn. You have to remember that you aren't sleeping alone anymore." I tell her. "Right, Minna wants to speak to you in the control room." She says before backing out. "Yea, yea. I'll speak to her. Now what's for breakfast?" I ask. "I don't know." She responds. "I'll see what I can whip up." I say as I walk out fully dressed. "Tell Commander that if she wants to speak to me she can do so in the kitchen." "Right." Barkhorn says before heading off.

In the kitchen I was looking through the cupboards to find something when Commander walks in and asks. "Morrison have you been training while you were away from the Strike Witches?" "No but I've been racking up kills. Currently it's at 337 confirmed kills." I respond. "Okay so you could help Mio with training later today?" She asks. "No, I have other stuff I have to do first, such as fix my Strikers and take a test flight." I respond. "And what if I order you to?" She asks. "I would ask if you are stupid." I respond bluntly. "Because if you think retraining three witches should take presedence over marking sure you have a flying ace actually flying while someone else who is completely capable of training them is already going to train them." "Oh I see. You feel like you need to prove yourself to the rest of the team." She states. "No, I told Barkhorn when I left that I probably wouldn't survive till next year. But now, I'm standing here still alive and kicking." I respond as I search and find some food to serve. "Hope you don't mind hash browns, Commander." "I don't mind them." She answers. "Good cause that's all we got, good old potatoes." I respond.

After breakfast I started to fix my strikers while Lynne Yoshika and Perrine all ran up and down the runway. "They're painfully out of shape." Commanded comments. "Told ya so!" I shout from inside the hanger. "Those three have been inactive since the Battle of Britannia. It's been over six months since they've seen active duty." Major comments on how poorly they are doing. I turn back to my work and continue to modify my striker. "And those three had nothing but issues during morning flight training, too." Barkhorn's voice suddenly broke in. "Here's the problem." I mutter as I find what caused them to quit on me. "GOD DAMN THOSE GEESE!" I shout as I pull feathers from the air cooling system.

After checking and double checking my strikers I get ready to take a quick test flight. "Hey Barkhorn!" I fall as I knock on the door. "Could you spot for me as I take a test flight?" I ask only to hear a childish laugh and a excited call of "Morrison!" "Huh." I deadpan as the door opens to reveal Chris and Barkhorn. "Hey Chris..." I say kinda nervous. "Morrison can you take me flying!? Can you?" She asked repeatedly until Barkhorn said. "Alright as long as I can come along." "Alright, then you'll spot us as I do a quick test flight." I respond while picking Chris up and balancing her on my shoulders. "Yay!" She called out. "Alright calm down babushka." I say as I walk down the hallway.

Arriving in the hanger I quickly place Chris down and say. "Alright, be careful Chris, I'll come pick you up from here but don't move from here unless Barkhorn or I tell you to. Got it." She mods and I jump into my striker while Barkhorn does the same. "Alright Chris I'm coming to pick you up." I say as I roll over to her. "There ya go." I say as I hold her to my chest. "Your beards itchy." She said. "Sorry if it hurts I still haven't shaved my bush beard." I apologize before turning to Barkhorn. "Say wanna race?" I ask her. "Why not." She answers with a shrug. "Alright. Lift off." I say as I travel down the runway and take off with Barkhorn keeping up so far. "Chris, wanna go faster?" I ask Chris. "Yeah, faster." She cries. "Alright hold tight." I say as I pick up speed. "Keep up Barkhorn!" I call back to Barkhorn. Still picking up speed I listen as Chris seems happy until my aura sense picks something up. "What is it Morrison?" Barkhorn asks as she catches up to us. "I don't know but I'm picking something up with my aura sense." I say closing my eyes. "Is it the Neuroi?" She asks. "Nope, it's taste our dust!" I call as I suddenly speed off. Chris is laughing in my arms as I fly away. "Not funny Morrison!" Barkhorn calls after me. "I beg to differ." I shout back as I pull a 180 and end up rushing towards Barkhorn. "Heh. That was fun right Chris." I ask. "Yeah it was." She answers as her sister pulls up. "That wasn't funny Morrison. You had me worried." Barkhorn says. "You need to relax. No need to be so strict." I answer her. "Anyway we should return. I've got some work to do."

Arriving back I place Chris down before helping Barkhorn out of her striker. "Have fun. Oh and Chris," I say as I dig through a breast pocket. "Here." I hand her another chocolate bar and a postal code for her to reach me. "Write when you can and I'll write back." I respond. "Okay." She says as she runs after her sister. "Now off to take a nap." I say as I walk off towards the lounge. Laying down I prop my feet up on the arm rest. I doze off only to awake with Barkhorn standing over me with a smile on her face, one that someone would make when they saw something cute. Looking down at my chest I see that Chris had chosen to take a nap on my chest. "Now that's cute." I comment breaking Barkhorn out of her trance, the only thing preventing her from waking Chris was the shush sign I made. "Let her rest. She's had a lot of excitement today." I whisper.

A few hours later Chris woke up. "Morning sleepy head." I whisper to her before pointing at her sister who had fallen asleep on the couch across for us. "Watch and learn on how to prank your sister." I whisper before sneaking over to Barkhorns head. I was situated so that I could bring both hands down on her shoulders. Doing so quickly and shouting. "Get up!" Startled her so much she rolled off the couch. Chris and I were rolling around on the floor laughing when Barkhorn realized what happened. "Morrison, why did you do that." She said angrily. "Because it was to good of an oppertunity to pass up." I manage to wheeze out before Barkhorn says "I'll get you back for this." "I'd like to see you try." I respond.

A short while later Chris had to leave so Barkhorn and I waved her off before Barkhorn grabbed the back of my collar as we passed the washrooms and dragged me inside. "Now its time to tame that beard." She said as she held a razor. "No. Please. Anything but the beard, anything but the beard." I begged. "No." She said as she with extreme precision she shaved my beard. "Noooo!" I cried as she finally let me go with a clean shaven face and a few nicks.

That night I got her back by putting itching powder in her clothes.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 9

The hum of Shirley's Merlin engine and my Allison engine filled the hanger. Both of us were in our undergarments as the heat in hanger was unbearable I was holding ice packs under my armpits trying to keep cool. They didn't work well... "All right, my Merlin engine is in top shape again today." Shirley said happily. "My Allison engine is doing well." I say. "Captain Charlotte Yeager!" I heard Barkhorn say form across the hanger. Looking up I watch as she walks towards us while trying to scratch everything. I snicker at this aswell as Shirley. "What the hell are you doing dressed like that?" Barkhorn asked as she stood infront of Shirley. "Uh... I'm just testing the engine." Shirley responds. "That's not my point! And Morrison you too!" She says somewhat startled by me being there. "Morning, engine testing. Now if you excuse us..." I say before she cuts me off. "Right now, we're on standby for battle. What would you do if a Neuroi showed up?" "But it gets so hot inside the hanger when we rev the engine... See! She's stripped down, too." Shirley said directing attention to Lucchini who was laying on her countries flag up in the rafters. "Sheesh! You three are just terrible." Barkhorn states. A small smirk appears on my face as I know what comes next. "Oh? So people from Karlesland are sticklers for the rules, are they? Then what's your excuse, Hartmann?" Shirley sarcastically states. "True, please enlighten us with your reasoning Erica." I join in. "It's a billion degrees in here." She responds. Surprise was written all over Barkhorns face. "H-Hartmann! You, too? And you call yourself a Karlesland soldier?!" Barkhorn says looking Erica up and down. "She's gonna blow a casket." I quietly say to Shirley causing her to snicker. "Huh? Uh, yeah." Erica states as she stands there.

"Oh... So this is the new model from Karlesland." Major says while looking at a prototype jet striker. I was standing off to the side with a cold glass of whiskey. "More precisely, it's a prototype. Me 262 V1. It's a jet striker." Commander said. "Jet?" Erica asked. "First lieutenant Hartmann... Why are you dressed like that?" Commander asks. "Because it's so..." I started to explain before Barkhorn cut me off with. "Damn it, Hartmann! Put some clothes on!" Then she stopped beside Commander and took notice of the jet striker. "So who made it?" I ask as I walk over and glance at the paper. 'Ursula Hartmann' it read. "I ain't fucking touching that death trap!" I shout while pointing at the jet striker. "It's gonna do something bad I can tell that much by the name of the creator!" "What's that?" Barkhorn says mostly ignoring me. "Apparently a jet striker." Commander explains. "And a death trap at that. Let me open it up and take a look." I say as I approach only for Shirley to cut me off. "It arrived from Neue Karlesland this morning. It's many times more powerful than a reciprocating engine striker." Commander explained. "A listed top speed of 950km/h." "950? That's incredible!" Shirley finally said. "Not if you like the smell of burnt hair and smashing into everything at or bellow tree top level." I say. "This is the reciprocating engine Strikers eventual replacement." Commander continues. "Shirley, why are you dressed like that, too?" Major asks. "What's this?" Barkhorn asks looking at the 50 mm canon and four 30 mm canons. "Weapons specially developed for the jet striker. One 50 mm canon. Also, four 30 mm autocanons." Commander explained. "Incredible!" Barkhorn exclaimed. "Can it really fly, with all that equipped?" "Hey, hey! Let me try this on." Shirley said. "No. I'm gonna try it." Barkhorn shot her down. "Actually the pilot was requested so neither of you will get to try it." Commander said. "Who is it?!" Both of them asked. "It's Morrison." Commander answered. "Huh!?" They both reeled back in shock. "Yea I was a test pilot before joining the 501st, I worked on just about every new aircraft and striker after 1942. And I am not getting it that death trap before I get the chance to look inside!" I shout. "Why's that?" Shirley asked. "Because the designer is one who likes to send out strikers that have a tendon you to either explode, zap all your magic power or catch fire mid-flight." I explained as Lucchini jumped into it. I watched as all the hair on her cat tail stand up and she jumped out of the striker and ran to hide behind Shirley's. "Yeah, I think I'll pass on it." Shirley said after checking in on Lucchini. "What?" Barkhorn asked as I realized they had ignored me the entire time and had, had their own argument. "Thinking about it a bit, there's still lots I haven't done with reciprocating engines yet. There'll be plenty of time for jets later." Shirley explains. Barkhorn strikes a small victory pose with one hand on her hip and her head tilted downwards. "Cold feet, Huh? Then watch me. I'll wear it!" She states as she jumps in and throttling up. "Incredible." She mutters as it warms up. "And the count down begins. Let's see how many flights it takes before it breaks down." I comment. "Well? With your reciprocating engine, think you can beat this?" Barkhorn challenges Shirley. "Oh shit it's season two episode four. This is gonna be fun." I mutter quietly. "What did you say?" Shirley shoots back. "Hi, Everyone! We've been looking for you." Yoshika calls out breaking the tension in the air. "Breakfast is all ready." Lynne says. "Act your age already, will you. You're behaving like a kid who just got a new toy." Shirley hurls at Barkhorn. "Sour grapes? How pathetic." Barkhorn hurls back. "I just changed my mind. I'm fine with this one." Shirley states as she places her hand on her P-51 striker. "You Liberions love your lies of convenience." Barkhorn hurls at Shirley. "What?! You're a stubborn, military blockhead!" Shirley hurls back. "Ladies, ladies, you're both beautiful so kiss and make up." I say as I walk between them. "Stay out of this Morrison!" Was all I got in response.

After breakfast Barkhorn and Shirley went ahead in their competition of who could fly higher. "What on earth is going on?" Yoshika asks. "Barkhorn and Shirley are competing." Lynne explained. "Round one is who can go the highest! Good luck Shirley!" Lucchini called. "Hey let's better on this, I got ten on Barkhorn." I say only to be shot down by Perrine. "No gambling on base." "If only you knew of the gambling pools." I mutter. "What was that?" She asks. "Nothing." I quickly cover it up. "Shirley topped out at an elevation of 12,000 meters. Barkhorn is still going. Amazing..." Sanya said as she and Eila were flying around reporting to us on the situation.

"And that's why-" barkhorn started to say before Shirley cut her off with. "Aha-ha! I win!" As she snagged the potato Barkhorn was going for. "Bitter over losing earlier? That's pathetic Captain." Barkhorn said. "Ah, it's so good!" Shirley said rubbing it in. "Good luck next round Shirley." Lucchini said as she popped up. "Thanks! But you know I'm going to win." Shirley bragged. "Don't count your chickens before they hatch Shirley, and don't under estimate your enemy." I say.

Mad Shirley got reasy I was helping Barkhorn. "Don't exert yourself alright." I say. "Yeah don't worry about me. You sound like a mother hen." Barkhorn shot back getting kinda red in the face. Yea just win this, I got 200 bucks on the line. "Sorry to keep you waiting." Barkhorn said as she approached Shirley carrying everything that was issued for the jet striker. "A-Are you okay with all that, Barkhorn?" Yoshika asked. "This is nothing." She states in return. "Hey... There's no way you can fly with all that." Shirley states only to be proven wrong in the game.

During dinner I sat beside Barkhorn as she was starting to look alittle exhausted. "Barkhorn, you're exhausted, call of the next match on health terms please. I don't want you dropping dead from exhaustion on me." I say trying to convince her to sleep. "Um, aren't you tired Barkhorn?" Yoshika asked as she came over to deliver our food. "Thanks Yosh, I'll take it from here." I say as I take both mine and Barkhorns before setting mine down and sitting beside Barkhorn. "Come on atlest eat." I beg her. "You need some sort of energy to replace the amount you lost using the jet striker." "I don't need your help Morrison." She answers. "Fine, then. Just eat something and I'll stop bugging you." I respond handing her, her tray before fetching my own and digging in.

That night I had to carry Barkhorn back to our room as she had fallen asleep. "Who knew she weighed so much." I huffed as I shifted her to one arm as to open the door. "There." I say as I lay her down and tuck her in. "Damn, I really have become an alcoholic." I mutter as I pour myself a glass of whiskey and downing it before stripping down and slipping into bed.

I watched the ground as Lucchini waved the flag and Shirley took off, Barkhorn stayed still for a few seconds before she took off sending Lucchini flying. I watched as Barkhorn climbed and then stalled and started to fly straight for the hanger. "Oh shit." I muttered. Running out into the runway I braced myself for inpact and waited for five seconds then WHAM! I was struck by Barkhorn who wasn't slowing down. You see I was still suck on the front so I reached down for the emergency realise handle and yanked it as my head struck the tail fin of my striker. Then all went black.

I wake up to find everyone crowding around Barkhorn. "You crashed into Morrison, trude." I heard Erica say before all went black again as I drifted between consciousness and unconsciousness. Some times I would wake and see the back of someone's head for a split second other times I would see no one. **"You're lucky to be alive."** Someone said. 'Who's there. Who are you?' I question in my head. **"Well I'm the Neuroi core inside your body, or did you forget about me."** it said. 'Do you have a name? Something I can call you by maybe?' I ask it as I had nothing else to do. **"No, but you could call me what ever you want."** it responded. 'Alright how about Jarvis. Cause you are effectively a voice in my head.' I answer. **"Whatever floats your boat human."** Jarvis answers. 'You could at least call me Stefan.' I answer. **"Fine. But it's time for us to awake now. I'll contact you next time you call."** Jarvis said before I awoke to something strange.

"Uh Damn my head hurts like a bitch." I say as I come to. Placing my hand on my forehead as I notice Barkhorn is by my bedside. "Think you could lend me a smoke?" I ask. "You now what Minna thinks about your smoking habit." She answers but still gives me, my pack. "Thanks." I say as I light one up. "So what's new." I ask. "I've been restricted from flying, and confined to my room. Though I am allowed to visit you." She says. "And the jet striker?" I ask. "It's been disallowed until someone can fix it." She said. "Alright I'll grab my tool box. AAHH!" I cry out as I try sitting up. "Don't try moving, Yoshika did her best but we don't know how well that worked." She said while trying to help me back down. "No, I'm going to fix that striker, now help me up." I said brushing her hands away. "Okay." She said undecided on weighed to help or not. "Thank you." I answer while getting out of bed and shrugging on my tunic and overcoat. "Lets go." I say as I go to take a step only to stumble. "Here lean on me." She said as she moves my arm over her shoulders. "Again Thank you barkhorn." I say as we make our way out of the medical room.

As we were making our way along the hallway Commander came around a corner and surprised us. "Ah, Morrison, I was just coming down to check on you. How was your sleep?" She asked. "Painful." I respond. "Well I'm going to have to confine you to bed due to your injuries. Of course Barkhorn will be in charge of taking care of you while you're hurt." She said effectively saying 'get to your room or I'll do worse.' "Yes ma'am." We both said with a salute. "Dismissed." She said as she walked away. "Barkhorn." I whisper to her. "Yes?" She asks. "We should get to our room." I answer. "Yea I thought so to." She said as we made our way to our shared room.

Upon entering I noticed something odd. My whiskey which sat on a night stand beside my bed was missing. "Hey Barkhorn, where did my booze go?" I ask while pointing towards my night stand. "Oh Minna said that she didn't want you drinking while you were recovering so she took it somewhere." Barkhorn answered while helping me sit on the bed. "And she also said she didn't want you smoking so hand over the pack of cigarettes I gave you." "WHAT! Come on, how else am I supposed to sleep well. It's not like you forget the brutality of war overnight!" I cried out while falling backwards onto my bed for dramatic effect. "Well you'll just have to deal with it." Barkhorn responded to my antics. "Besides it'll be good for you." "No, it won't." I say defeated. "Why did she have to take my booze. I operate on that stuff." "Complaining won't get it back." Barkhorn stated. "Yea I know." I say as I glance out the window. "It's getting kinda late, we should probably get some sleep." "Yea, we should." Barkhorn said while looking out our shared window.

*pant* *pant* "here's the ammo you asked for sir." John said as he ran up to me ducking underneath a laser being shot at him. "Thanks." I respond as I pop out and fire back. The sounds of gun fire and laser shots ring out in the air. "Damn that's the fifth time tonight they've assaulted us only to be repulsed." I comment as we slide back down into our foxhole. "Yea that's rig-" he suddenly stopped. Looking over I saw that a stray beam had halved his head. *whomp* the sound of a artillery shell landing caught my attention. Looking over I see a Neuroi shell stuck in the earth. "Oh shit..." I trail off as I blows up in my face. I could hear the screams of others as they dealt with the shells aswell. The screams, the terrible screams, they will haunt me forever.

"MORRISON WAKE UP!" Woke me up before I realized I had been thrashing around and screaming bloody murder. The whole squadron except Sanya was in the room. "What happened?" Commander asked. She was wearing some sort of house coat. "PTSD or better know as post traumatic stress disorder. It's caused by traumatic experiences in someone's life and most often times they are forced to relive them in there dreams. I used my whiskey to prevent this from happening and as a sort of comfort from home." I explain. "It's nothing magic can fix or anything else for that matter. It stays with the person for the rest of their lives, you girls are lucky as you never seen the combat on the ground. The screams of a man as he lies dying, or the smell of burning flesh, the sickening sound of a Neuroi blade slashing through human flesh. You'll never understand those horrors, only those that see it first hand know how it feels." I place a hand on my face and a tear rolls down the side of my face at the memories. "War is hell on earth, no matter the time."

The next morning Barkhorn was going through an exercise routine while I was stuck in bed. "U-Um, Barkhorn..." Yoshika said as she and Lynne wheeled in a food cart. "What are you doing?" Lynne asked. "I'm training. I didn't crash because of... the jet striker... it was because I wasn't... strong enough..." Barkhorn answered. "Huh? You still plan to use it?" Yoshika asked. "Of course. If I can master it, I can turn the whole tide of this war." Barkhorn answered. "It's impossible. Give up on it." Shirley said as she leaned against the door frame. "Shirley!" Yoshika said in surprise. "Did you come to laugh at me, liberion?" Barkhorn asked. "Please don't rile her up Shirley, she'd take it out on me." I begged from my position in bed. "Crashing because I ran out of magic... you'd think I was a private." Barkhorn said ignoring my plead. "Listen to the Commander. That striker is way too dangerous. Next time you won't just lose the ability to fly." Shirley explained. "I know you understand the military applications of the jet striker. It's worth the risk." Barkhorn shot back. "So you don't care if you die?" Shirley snapped. Yoshika and Lynne were surprised by this outburst while I on the other hand accepted that Barkhorn was doing something stupid. "I must become stronger." Barkhorn shot back. "You fool!" Shirley shouted. Before the alarm went off. "Ugh." I grunted as I tried to roll out of bed only for it to not end well on my part. Now I was half in the bad and half out of bed. "Little help here." I said while trying to draw attention to my struggle. "I'm going on ahead." Hartmann said as she ran past our room with Shirley running out to join her shortly afterwards. "Shirley, wait!" Yoshika called as she and Lynne ran after her. "Yoshika! We were ordered to stay in here, on standby." Lynne called after her friend.

After they left Barkhorn finally dropped down from the ceiling. "An opening!" Erica surprised us as she place a radio in each of our ears. "You forgot something!" She said as she ran out the door. "Yea like maybe, oh I don't know ME!" I shouted from my spot on the floor. "A transponder?" Barkhorn questioned as I flailed around on the floor before giving up and rolling the rest of the way out. "Ah, Fuck!" I cried out as my lower back slammed into the stone floor.

"It's heading due south, towards Rome. However, it's continuing to accelerate. I'm altering the rendezvous spot. Head close to..." Commander said only for Major to cut her off. "Unnecessary. We've got visual." A smile grew as I knew that Neuroi wouldn't last even if I wasn't able to see it from base I could hear all of their conversations. "It split apart?" Commander questioned as I started to move to lean against the window. "So, it plans to overwhelm us with numbers." Major commented. "Five on five... looks like a perfect match to me." Erica said. "Everyone spread out and destroy your targets." Major ordered. "Do not let them past us!" "Roger!" Was the unimous response. A series of machine gunfire and canon fire was heard shortly afterwards. "You ain't getting away!" I heard Shirley shout over the radio followed by what sounded like a shout of surprise. "Oh, you wanna do this? Prepare to be destroyed!" Then the sound of her BAR chattering away could be heard. "Seems like she's got her hands full I comment. "Damn it..." was heard over the radio while Barkhorn remained unresponsive. "Earth to captain Barkhorn, I repeat this is earth to captain Barkhorn, you there, over?" I ask as I flick the side of her head only for her to do nothing. "Oh shit it's this episode isn't it." I mutter quietly. "This is Sakamoto. Shirley's got her hands full, but we can't spare anyone to help. We need emergency backup!" Suddenly broke over the coms. "Roger that." Commander responded. Glancing over to Barkhorn I see she is just about to go, reaching out I grab her arm. "Remember, you've been given a no fly order." I say trying in vain to keep her here peacefully. "I have to help, and the jet striker will get me there faster." She responds without even looking at me. "Follow your orders Barkhorn." I state while trying to use my size to intimidate her, it doesn't help one bit. She whips around and tries to throw my grip off but I just switch arms and pull her in close as so she can't punch me. "Barkhorn I'm not, under any circomstances letting you out of this room." I say only for her to respond. "You won't have to." Before she sacks me. A reinforced kick to the balls, the fact that I wasn't expecting it helped her and the magic she used helped a whole lot aswell, I stood there for a second in shock before my legs gave out and my hands immediately went to cover my tea bags. I dropped like a sack of potatoes the hit didn't knock me out but the fall to the floor did. "Cheap shot." I managed to wheeze out before I hit the ground.

I was now given crutches for my injuries and was finally allowed to move around after I was found and regained consciousness. "I knew it was a death trap!" I shout at barkhorn while she peeled potatoes. "But did you fucking listen to me, I'm the guy that worked under her for a year and tested every Karlesland jet striker and yet no one listened to me not even you! You were all to hopeful, welcome to war where Hope is almost completely useless just like blind faith!" "Go easy on her." I heard Shirley say. I give off a huff and simply state. "Any striker coming into this base has to be tested by me alone as that's safer." "Everyone, sorry for this whole ordeal." I heard a familiar voice say. "Hartmann what did I tell you about dabbling in jet engines, send your notes to me first and make sensible decisions." I told her as everyone looked on. "I almost fucking died by your hands again, I feel like you're trying to kill me you crazy bitch." I said as I made smack her over the back of the head. "Hey guys! Are you hungry?" Lynne called as she and Yoshika pushed a trolley into the hanger. "A big shipment of potatoes came in, so we made a bunch of food." Yoshika said. "Try it, Hartmann." She then offered Ursula a packet of fries. "You didn't bring cheese curds or gravy did you?" I ask her as she accepts Yoshika's offering. "No, I didn't, and I don't know how you stand the stuff." She answered. "Hey poutine is amazing! Don't call it bad!" I shouted as Yoshika asked. "Huh? Did you always wear glasses?" "Yes, I always have." Ursula responded as Erica popped up behind Yoshika surprising her by leaning against her and exclaiming. "Wow, it looks delicious!" "Oh, you try some too, Hartmann #2" Yoshika said while turning around causing me to snicker at the fact that the Hartmann twin's were in the same room and no one but Commander and myself could tell them apart. "Huh?!" Yoshika suddenly realized that there were two Hartmann's as did everyone else. "It's been a while, sister." Ursula said. "Oh, is that you, Ursula?" Erica responded. "I can see the family resemblance." I commented. "Sister?!" Everyone exclaimed. "This is First lieutenant Ursula Hartmann. She's first lieutenant Erica Hartmann's twin sister." Commander explained. "Twin sister?" Everyone exclaimed. "Okay stop, just stop, please." I beg. "She's one of the staff members on the jet striker project." Commander continued. "Say Ursula who's the poor sole you managed to trick into being your test pilot now?" I ask her. "Well after you left we don't have any test pilots." She explained. "Wait. Wha!" My mouth dropped at this. "You are one crazy son of a bigch Ursula! Do you even care if we win this war!" I shouted at her. "I'm not the only crazy one here! You jumped infront of a jet going just under the speed of sound!" She shouted back. "Yea! After you failed yet again in your attempt to have a jet striker!" I shouted back. To any on looker we looked like a squabling couple. "Ursula you need to double check you math! You are not always right!" "I don't need to listen to you! You are the one who destroys every prototype I have made!" "Both of you stop!" Barkhorn snapped at us. "Barkhorn stay out of this. We all know that you're stubborn so please don't no make things worse for yourself." I say before Ursula whacks me with a file she had been holding. "Don't be you Daren try to drag her into this." Ursula states. "I'm trying to keep her out of this." I shot back. "Fine she says before turning away from me. "*cough*stubbornbitch*cough*" I say. "Captain Barkhorn, I sincerely apologize for the trouble you experienced, especially at the hands of my former test pilot. It appears the jet striker possessed a fatal flaw." Ursula states. "Well, prototypes and problems go hand in hand. And Morrison hasn't been much trouble, more of a nuisance." Barkhorn answers. "And I must apologize to you for breaking it." "It's okay. All that matters is that you're safe. I will take it back to Karlesland" Ursula said. "You came all the way here tic do that?" Shirley asked. "Yes. And though I doubt it makes up for it, I brought a shipment of potatoes, as a token of my apology." Ursula said before she started to walk away only to stop infront of me and whisper. "That Barkhorn is a keeper for sure, don't mess this up Morrison." "Ursula! You are so dead once I get off these crutches." I call out to her as she walked away.

Shortly afterwards both Barkhorn and Shirley grabbed the same fry. "That's my French fry!" Barkhorn said as she struggled to gain the upper hand. "Didn't you say you didn't want any Liberion food?" Shirley shot back as she struggled aswell. "Yes But I need energy to help my body fully recover!" Barkhorn said. "Admit that they're delicious." Shirley said staring down Barkhorn. "They're all right." Barkhorn returned the stare. "Ladies, ladies, you're both beautiful no need to fight, there is enough of me to go around." I said while stealing the fry. I watched as both of them blush and turn away before they realized what happened. "Hey!" They both shouted as I chomped down on it. "There, I win." I said before realizing that they were getting ready to beat me down. "Mama." I muttered before hobbling as fast as I could to the male showers to escape out one of the windows. The chase was on. Shirley and Barkhorn were gaining fast but I slid into the showers before they could reach me. Now this would only stall them a few minutes at most and a few seconds and worst. I had to make use of it. Throwing open the nearest window, I then made it to the back of the showers and hid in a stall. "The window!" I heard Barkhorn shout before the sound of their feet hitting the grass outside told me I could leave. Hobbling our I closed and locked the window and made my way back to the hanger. "The road to the city has been blocked, Denied, To enter the gates, Thought they tried." I sung as I kicked open the hanger door. "How...?" Everyone questioned as I hobbled in. "Deception is amazing." I commented before I sat down at the table and began to eat. "Plus they won't find me outside."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 10

"Barkhorn, please stop. You aren't going to help me at all by dragging me out of bed." I said while trying in vain to stay in the small hole in the ground I had dug. "No you didn't get to bed last night and I was worried." She said. "Why would you need to worry, I lived like this for two years except in worse conditions." I responded before she finally pulled me out. "Damn no, I need to sleep." I try to crawl back only for her to grab my collar and pull me up. "You need to sleep in the bed like a normal witch." She said before she paused and sniffed the air. "Phew, But first take a bath." She said holding her nose and turning her head away. "Hey I smell fine." I said before I sniffed. "Never mind, I stand corrected." I said as I stood up effectively breaking from her grip., before I walked off to take a warm shower.

Entering the shower I turned on the warm water. "Ah!" I jumped as cold water suddenly splashed onto my back. "Damn, we are out of warm water in the showers." I mutter as I try to wash as fast as possible.

"Huh? We're out of rice." Yoshika said from the kitchen. "What? We haven't gotten any new supplies in yet?" Lynne exclaimed. "Sakamoto! We're out of rice!" Yoshika called from the kitchen. "Huh?" Major said as she walked by the mess hall doors. "I didn't think everyone would be gathering today... This is bad." She said. "Well no shit captain obvious." I said from my seat, where I was leaning back with a glass of whiskey in my hand. "I'm kinda running out of booze aswell. And you don't want a repeat of the last time I ran out of booze." "What should we do?" Yoshika asked Lynne before Commander cut in. "We need a few things. Can you girls go shopping for us?" "Shopping?" Yoshika and Lynne said at the same time before getting excited, I just groaned. "I'm gonna go through more booze today than any other day."

I had replaced my glass with a flask of whiskey and was taking sips every once and awhile. "So, we need to head out and procure some local supplies. Shirley is trained to operate large trucks. Lucchini, you're the resident Romagna expert, so I'd like you two to undertake this mission." Commander said. "Roger!" They both said before Shirley said. "All right! I haven't driven in ages!" "Sorry, wed send more people, but we don't know when the enemy's going to attack." Major explained. "Yay! Driving, driving!" Lucchini cheered. "It's nice to go off base from time to time. I'm delighted to take this mission!" Shirley said. "Lastly, I'd like Miyafuji and Lynne to join you." Commander said. "Excuse me." Lynne said. "I'd rather wait here, on standby." "Huh? Why?" Yoshika asked. "Understood. So Morrison will go instead." She said as she picked me. "Yes ma'am!" Yoshika And I said while I gave a quick salute a quick salute. "Now off the get some good booze." "Guide them around town, Lucchini." Commander said. "You can count on me!" Lucchini happily exclaimed sticking her left arm in the air before she brought it down to flash the Victory sign. "Miyafuji, you are to follow Shirley's orders out there." Major said. "Yes ma'am!" Yoshika answered. "Now, please get your orders in." Commander said. "Orders, Huh? Some new training tools would be nice..." Major said. "Yes, But not like that. Things to use while we recharge." Commanders explained. "Recharge?" Major asked. "The best way to recharge is to train hard and rest hard." Barkhorn explained. "Well, actual baths for people, to keep moral high after training, would be nice." Major said. "Is training all you guys think about?" Commander asked. "Please think of more practical items." "Excuse me... I would like some black tea." Lynne said. "Good call. We could all use some good tea-time." Commander said. "For me, I'd like a radio." "Don't you have a fancy Karlesland one?" Major asked. "I mean a radio we can leave out here, wouldn't you guys like to hear music and the news?" Commander asked back. "Oh, that's what you mean. That would be nice. Please see to it, Miyafuji." Major said. "Yes ma'am. Black tea and a radio, right?" Yoshika asked. "A piano. Please get me a piano." Eila said. "They're not going to be able to lug back a piano." Commander explained. "Boo, I wanted to hear Sanya play..." Eila pouted. "Say, Sanya, anything you want?" "Eila, why don't you ask for something you want?" Sanya asked. "Because it's not child friendly." I snickered while elbowing Barkhorn. "What about you, Barkhorn?" Yoshika asked. "Me? Nothing really comes to mind..." Barkhorn said. "What about a small gift for your little sister?" I asked. "Ch-Chris, huh? Right... H-How about something cute for her to wear... an outfit, please!" "An outfit... what style and size, we would need that to make it a nice gift." I said. "I'll let you decide. She's about Yoshika's size." Barkhorn answered. "You sure? She would be proud if her sister chose for her." I asked. "Y-Yes. I'll trust your opinion." Barkhorn answered "Understood." Yoshika said finally cutting in. "Oh, what about you, Perrine." "I don't need anything." Perrine answered. "Huh? But we're going into town, so..." Yoshika tried to convince her. "I said I don't need anything!" Perrine said before storming out. "Perrine..." Yoshika said. "She donated all her savings and pay checks to the reconstruction efforts in Gallia." Lynne explained to Yoshika. "I had no idea." Yoshika said. "Oh, I know, Yoshika. Please get me flower seeds, in addition to the black tea." Lynne said. "Sure." Yoshika answered. "So, umm, I still need Hartmann's request." "Is Hartmann still in bed?" Barkhorn asks. "Let's find out." I shrug.

Barkhorn throws open the door to Hartmann's and commanders room. I could tell who slept in which bed and who's side was Who's. Hartmann was a mess person so she had all of her stuff piled up. "Wake up, Hartmann!" Barkhorn shouts. "Eh... just give me another ninety minutes..." I heard Erica say from somewhere in the mounds of stuff. "Oi Erica we're going shopping what do you want!" I call in quickly cutting Barkhorn's speech off. "Sweet stuff!" She called out as her head appeared from under a mound of clothes on her bed. "What you need is an alarm clock!" Barkhorn snapped. "But I want sweets!" Erica said before repeating "sweets!" Over and over again. "Shut up!" Barkhorn finally snapped and stormed out followed by myself then Yoshika. "Yeah, get her an alarm clock." Barkhorn said to Yoshika before leaving. "R-right..." Yoshika trailed off. "Alright, cya later Yoshika." I called as I walked off in the opposite direction. "Hello Eila." I greeted as I passed. "Friends all tried to warn me but I held my head up high. All the time they warned me but I only passed them by. They all tried to tell me but I guess I didn't care. I turned my back and left them standing there. All the burning bridges that have fallen after me. All the lonely feelings and the burning memories. Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door. Burning bridges lost for evermore. Joey tried to help me find a job a while ago. When I finally got it, I didn't want to go. The party Mary gave for me when I just walked away. Now there's nothing left for me to say. All the burning bridges that have fallen after me. All the lonely felling and the burning memories. Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door burning bridges lost for evermore. Years have passed and i keep thinking what a fool I've been. I look back into the past and think of way back then. I know that I lost everything I thought that I could win. I guess I should have listen to my friends. All the burning bridges that have fallen after me. All the lonely feelings and the burning memories. Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door. Burning bridges lost for evermore. Burning bridges lost for evermore." I sang 'burning bridges' while walking throught the halls.

Some time later I found myself sat in the back of a truck with Yoshika and Lucchini. "See you guys later." Lynne called as we started to leave. "We'll be back in a bit!" Yoshika called back as I placed a cigarette in my mouth before lighting it. "Ah finally, I can smoke in peace." I said blissfully.

After awhile I looked out the back of the truck and saw the landscape. "It sure is beautiful here." I commented as the girls were leaning out the back of the truck. "It's so beautiful. I can't believe Lynne's missing this!" Yoshika exclaimed. "Clear visibility ahead with no oncoming traffic..." I heard Shirley say before I felt the gears change. "What was that?" Yoshika asked. "Well my dear Yoshika, that was the gears shifting." I explained as I got a firm hold onto the trucks bed. "Here we go!" Shirley suddenly said as I felt the truck speed up rapidly. "Haha. She'd be the perfect Winnipeg driver." I called out as the truck sped up more. I could hear Yoshika's screams of terror and Lucchini's shout of joy. "W-We're gonna fall off the cliff!" Yoshika panicked. "This is awesome!" Lucchini called out. "Whooohooo." I called out while we sped around the corner. Suddenly we were airborne and the earth was rushing to reclaim us. I felt the truck land and slide alittle before righting itself. "Yay!" Lucchini And Myself cheered as we landed.

Before we reached Rome the girls moved to the front while I hung out in the back smoking away. "Ah." I said as I closed my eyes. "The sun is shining, the wind is blowing and everything's feels perfect, nothing can go wrong." I said not realizing that I just jinxed us. I could hear the girls talking but couldn't make out what they said. I looked around and saw all the old buildings from the ancient Roman Empire.

"Is this place okay?" Shirley asked as we all exited the truck. "Yup. They'll have most of what we need." Lucchini responded. "Alright I'll be off to find my booze. We should meet back up by lunch." I said looking at the time. "It's 1000 hours right now." "Alright, Have fun." Shirley waved me off.

As i as I wandered away from the group in search of a place to buy booze I came across an odd sight, an artic fox cub in the store window across the street. "That's interesting." I say as I cross the street. "Hello good sir, how can I help you?" The man behind the counter said as I entered. He had his back to me until he turned around and saw who I was, now I didn't know that I was well known as I rarely read a newspaper that was newer that two years as they didn't get to me much. "You-you're the male witch that works with the 501st, you're from Farawayland correct?" He asked. "Uh, yes I am good sir, I noticed the artic fox cub you have in the store window so I came in to look around." I said. "Here, here." he said as he put a dog leash in my hands. "Consider this as a gift from th Romagna people to you." He then proceeded to attach the fox cub to the leash and give me directions to the nearest butcher and after me asking him he gave me the directions to the nearest liquor store that sold Canadian Whiskey.

Once I was three blocks away did I realize what happened. "Commander isn't gonna like this." I muttered as I looked at the fox cub. "Ah well it's not like I can in good faith return you so, you need a name." I said while thinking as I thought Yoshika and Shirley caught up to me. "Have you seen Lucchini?" They asked. "No, I haven't seen Lucchini, isn't she supposed to be with you?" I ask while my new fox friend hides behind my legs. "Yes she was But she ran off." Shirley said. "Well I'll keep an eye out for her while I purchase my whiskey." I say before turning and walking off with a wave.

"I still have to name you..." I said while tapping my chin, I had purchased all the booze I would need and had placed it in the truck, now I was sitting on the curb looking down at the little fox on the leash in my hands. "I know... how does Vadim sound?" I ask the fox who tilts its head in what I assume is agreement. "Alright Vadim it is."

Suddenly the Neuroi alarm went off. "Damn it, I jinxed us!" I said as I took off towards where I last saw the truck. I was stopped by Yoshika shouting. "On top of the basilica!" Followed by Shirley asking. "Basilica?" "Come on Vadim, follow me." I said as I took off towards the truck. "Hold my whiskey!" I said as I thrust the Crate into Shirley's hands before hoping onto the truck and slipping into my striker unit. "Stay Vadim." I commanded before taking off and climbing quickly to get a view of the city. I was soon joined by the girls. "Where is this basterd." I muttered while looking around with my aura sense before I spotted it. "Ah!" I shouted as a laser cut my side open. "Damn it. Let's go, Neuroi form." I said before shifting forms. **"Hey Morrison, it's me."** jarvis said. 'What, I never called on you' I thought as I moved away from another laser. **"Well now that they appear to be hunting you and me I thought I'd give you a heads up."** Jarvis informed me. 'Gee thanks' I responded. **"Now move left and fly in close."** he suddenly directed. 'Alright' I thought as I followed his directions. **"Fire dead center on the underside of this model."** he directed. 'Okay' I thought as I went to follow his orders only for a laser to push me back. I watched as Lucchini barrels into the Neuroi with multiple shields infront of her acting like a drill. Then the ding of the Neuroi exploding and the white crystals burst outwards. "It's over." I said as I shifted back to my normal human form. Only to realize I was still bleeding heavily. "Yoshika, I could use a patch up!" I called over to her with my hands glued to my side as I slowly bleed out. "Ah, hai." She responded while flying over and healing. "Thanks Yoshika." I said as the blood stopped flowing out of my wound. "Can you make it home okay alone?" Lucchini asked. "Yes!" The lady she was speaking with responded. "I had an amazing time today." "Really?" Lucchini asked. "Yes. I realized what I have to do." She answered. "Yeah? Good luck." Lucchini said. "Thank you." She responded before kissing lucchini's cheek. "Sorry to ask this of you madam, but think you could take care of Vadim for me?" I asked as I held out Vadim's leash. "I can't exactly keep him on base." "Alright I will until the war is over." She responded. "Thank you." I said as I handed over Vadim's leash. I could see the sadness in his eyes as we drove away. "Bye-bye, Maria! See you again!" Lucchini called.

The next morning I was standing outside the hanger with Shirley, the Major and Lucchini who was holding a bucket full of water in each hand. "Wah! I'm so sorry!" She cried. "Still, for her to spend all the food money..." Major said. "That's your superiors fault!" Shirley went from relaxed to panicking. "Good luck." I say while patting her on the shoulder. "Me included." Major finished. "Let's review what went wrong together." "Sorry, Lucchini." Shirley said while walking away after the Major. "Have fun." I said as I followed Shirley.

Min the briefing room I watched as Yoshika gave everyone their stuff while I popped open a bottle and poorer myself a glass. "Now, her highness Dutchess Maria, in her first day of official duty in the Principality of Romagna, will address the people from the garden party." I heard an announcer say over the radio. "Rome was attacked by the Neuroi yesterday. However, one small witch's actions helped thwart the attack. I learned a valuable lesson from her while this was all transpiring. We each must do everything in our power to protect the world. I will do everything I can, starting today, to defend Romagna. So, I thank you, my dear friend, Ensign Francesca Lucchini. As a small token of gratitude, I send these gifts to the 501st joint fighter wing." I heard the lady that Lucchini was talking to yesterday say all that. "Holy, shit." I muttered. Suddenly the sound of a SM.79's three engines could be heard over the base. I book it towards the hanger.

Reaching the hanger I see Lucchini burried up to her neck in boxes. "Want some help?" I ask. "Yes." She answers. "Alright, here." I saw as I start to move boxes. On the fifth one the rest of the girls finally arrive. "Hey Morrison What's this?" I heard Barkhorn ask while standing over one of the boxes that I have yet to move, upon closer inspection it looked like it had air holes in it. "I wonder what it is? It is addressed to you." Barkhorn states. "Alright I'll open it." I say as I use a crowbar to pry open the lid only for a blur of white to slam into me knocking me over. "What's this Morrison. I don't believe that you are allowed pets on base without me knowing." Commander said as she pulled a note that was tucked into his collar. "What's this?" She said before reading it outloud. "'Commander Minna please allow Mr. Morrison to Vadim on base as He was sad while he was away from him. Signed the Dutchess of Romagna.' I'll let you keep him Morrison, but on one condition." She said while Barkhorn picked up Vadim. "What's that?" I asked while getting back up. "That everyone else gets to help care for him." Commander said. "Okay. I can agree to that." I said before Barkhorn cut me off with. "He's so cute and fluffy." Looking over I see her hugging Vadim and rubbing her face in his fur, he was equally as happy and was panting with his tail wagging very quickly. "Barkhorn could you maybe pass him back please?" I asked. "No!" She responded while holding him away from me.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 11

It took me three hours to convince Barkhorn to let Vadim down. Currently I was laying in bed trying to get back to sleep after the alarm went off and I wasn't called out. Then something small, cold and wet touched the arch of my foot. "Ahhh! Cold!" I shouted as I jumped out of bed, taking the covers with me. "Damn it Vadim! I was trying to sleep!" I shouted while I started to remake my bed. "Alright get off." I said as I lifted him off the bed to make sure it was done right, a small habit from boot camp. "I'm gonna need some actual coffee if you keep waking me up like that Vadim." I sighed as I left the room while buttoning up my tunic. "Hey, Morrison, I heard you shout, what's wrong?" Erica cheerfully said as I bumped into her a few seconds after leaving. "Hey Vadim!" "He is the reason, him and his cold nose." I stated while looking down at my feet to see him sitting there. "Now I'm off to get some coffee and Vadim a snack." I answer. Well it's late in the afternoon now so I don't think coffee would be good for you." Sanya's queit voice spoke up from behind me. "Wait? WHAT!?" I exclaimed. "I thought I only slept a few minutes." "No you slept through the day. You could join me for night patrol if you want." Sanya explained. "Sure I'd love to. Erica think you could take care of Vadim for awhile?" I asked while looking over to Erica only to see her crouched down petting Vadim who was sniffing all the places dogs usually do when someone crouches down to greet them. "I'll take that as a yes." I said as I walked off with Sanya.

"Don't be so mean to her, Eila." Sanya suddenly broke the silence as we flew towards the group of witches. "Welcome back, everyone." She continued. 'Sanya' and 'Morrison' were their responses as we flew past them before joining up with them. "Oh, so you're on night patrol." Stated Eila. "Yes." Sanya answered as Major flew up alongside us. "Hold on, Sanya, Morrison. Gore relieved of tonight's duties. Head back to base with the rest." Major spoke as the girls gave her confused looks and I said. "What did we do wrong." But we did head back to base.

"Carrying this big thing around all the time must be really difficult, Huh, Sanya?" Yoshika asked while gazing at Sanya's rocket launcher. "Not really. I'm used to it." Sanya answered. "Sanya has night patrol by herself a lot. She uses the Fliegerhammer here when she has to fight." Eila explained. "Mostly to beef up her fire power as she has to be ready for anything." I say after removing my head from my striker. "Wow, that's amazing." Lynne said. "But I bet it's less lonely with someone else, right?" Yoshika asked. "Yeah." Sanya responded. "Huh, I just realized something." I said as I place my screwdriver back in the tool box. "What was that?" Lynne asked. "That most of the joint fighter wing witches are based off of aces from my world and are usually gender bent. Sanya here is the only one I know who isn't." I answered. "What do you mean by that?" Eila asked. "She is literally based off of the 'White Lily of Stalingrad' Lydia V. Litvyak. A member of the Russian night witches, a group of female bomber pilots who flew the out dated PO-2, they are mostly known for shutting off their engines and gliding over German columns to drop their bombs." I explained. "Oh, what about me?" Asked Yoshika. "Kaneyoushi Muto, is who you're based off of." I answer. "Oh, right." Eila says as she remembers something. "Here..." she says as she holds up a conifer twig for Sanya. "Oh, that!" Yoshika states. "Is that a conifer twig?" Lynne asks. "Take this, Sanya." Eila says. "Finally declairing your love." I say as I walk up behind Eila whipping my hands on an oil stained cloth only to receive a kick to the gonads. "Man down, we have a man down!" I say as I fall down and curl up. "Thank you, Eila." Sanya responds to Eila and takes the twig. "Where we were flying today, there's a cypress forest just ahead. It kinda looked the way Orussia does in the winter." Eila explains. "There were a bunch of those trees where I used to live." Sanya explained. "There are many in northern Manitoba." I chirped in while still curled up on the floor. "Yeah." Lynne exclaimed. "Really?" Yoshika asked. 'Hey Jarvis, status report.' I thought trying to bring forth my friend. **"Yea you're fine. Nothing to worry about. Well aside from being hunted down nothing to worry about yet."** He responds with the sound of a microwave beeping in the background.

the sound of the slides switching brought my attention forward. "Air Force spy planes took these photographs." Major explained. "It just looks like a bunch of noise." Barkhorn commented. "This is the Neuroi we spotted this afternoon. This is what happened when they tried to photograph the whole thing. Estimates put it at over thirty thousand meters long." Major continues. "Do we have a U-2." I comment from my place by the projector. "So it reaches an altitude of thirty kilometres?" Barkhorn asks. "Um, so compared to Mt. Fuji, it's..." Yoshika says counting her fingers. "It's slowly cruising towards Rome, at a rate of 10 kilometres per hour. The difficult part is about its core's location." Major states before slapping her meter stick against the top of the Neuroi. "The very top?" Barkhorn asks while I just count on my hand what episode I'm in. 'Shit the next one is where a Neuroi is hiding in panties' I blush. 'Fuck, that's not good.' I thought. "Yes. I verified it myself." Majoe interrupted my train of thought. "But our striker Units top out at ten thousand meters." Perrine explained. "Right. So for this mission, we'll need to use this." Major said before it switched to a picture of a rocket engines blueprints. "A rocket booster." She confirms my theory. "Ah shit, it's based off the Me 163's engine. Why does that plane keep haunting me?" I ask only to be ignored. "Then we'll be able to fly up to the core?" Yoshika asks. "No, I don't think it's that simple." Barkhorn says. "Yea, nothings ever that simple, what's the catch." I agree with Barkhorn. "Right. The booster is quite powerful, but it consumes magic power at a very high rate. We'll only be able to fly for a short while." Commander explained. "Then we should carry someone part of the way up." Barkhorn suggested. "Precisely." Major answers. "But thirty thousand meters up, there won't be any air." Shirley explains. "What? No air?" Lucchini panics. "Then we won't be able to talk either." Erica explains. "No you're both wrong. I cut them off. It's just that the air is too thin to breath normally but we could still go normally for a couple minutes before hypoxia sets in." I explain. "That and sound relies on air density to travel. As such there is no sound in space." "What?!" Lucchini panics more. "Thirty thousand meters is unknown territory, well beyond the highest altitude record, how do you know all this Morrison." Commander asks. "From the future and a different reality remember." I answer. "But we're Witches. There is nothing Witches cannot do." Major explains. "Besides survive the slalom witch trials." I mutter. "So the one best equipped for extesive momentary combat is... Sanya. I'd like you to attack the core." Major explained. As Eila went from relaxed to shocked. "Your Fliegerhammer is critical to this operation." Major continued before Eila cut her off. "Excuse me! I'd like to go with her, then." "Oh, right. Eila, have you ever used a shield, by any chance?" Major asked. "A shield?" Eila said before smileing and crossing her arms. "I don't mean to brag, but I've never once used a shield in combat." I facepalmed at this. "Then you can't go." Major said. "Yeah, exactly. What?" Eila answered. "Yeah that's not going to do." Commander said. "Wh-Why not?" Eila said standing up from her seat. "Besides using the booster, this mission will demand survival ability in extreme conditions, as well as skills for dealing with high levels of magic power consumption. In other words, Sanya will not be able to put any focus on protecting herself. We'll need one other person to protect Sanya up there." Major explained. "I-It's not like I'm not able to use a shield!" Eila argued. "But you've never done it in combat." Major said. "That's right." Eila said proudly. "That won't cut it. Miyafuji, you go." Major said. "Yes ma'am! What?" She said as she realized what she got into. "You're able to deploy very strong shields." Major explained. "R-Right..." Yoshika said only to find Eila's Glaring face in her face.

I watched as Lynne lined up her shot on Perrine with Eila floating between them. "U-Um... Are you sure about this?" Lynne nervously asked. "I'm sure. Please do it." Perrine said from her spot. "B-But..." Lynne tried to protest. "Okay! Eila, pretend I'm Sanya and protect me." Perrine cut her off. "Pretend you're Sanya?" Eila asked. "Are you... Are you really sure about this?" Lynne tried to protest again. "Just do it, already!" Perrine snapped. "O-Okay!" Lynne said before her anti tank rifle belched out a shot only for Eila to dodge the shot and Perrine to put up her sheild. "A-Are you all right?" Lynne asked. "Why did you dodge it?!" Perrine snapped at Eila. "This training is pointless if you dodge it?!" "Sorry. But you weren't getting fully into it." Eila explained. "Perrine go take a breather. I'll take over for here." I say as I place a hand on her shoulder. "Alright Lynne shot when ready! Eila I won't be using a shield at all, so if I'm hit I'm probably dead." I say. "Okay..." Eila trailer off before a shot flew past my head and splashed into the water a few miles away. "Lynne alittle more to the left!" I call out. Another bang and i flies past my face on the other side. "A wee bit to the right!" I shout out correcting her shots and stopping any protests. I watch as Eila puts up a shield that holds for about a second before failing as soon as it does my shield comes up and stops the round. "Again!" Would ring out throught the sky for a couple hours.

After getting back to our shared room I noticed Barkhorn going through my closet looking through my uniforms trying to find a winter jacket. "My winter jacket up top." I said as I leaned against my bed post. "Why would you put it up there?" Barkhorn asks while spinning around. "Mostly because I never had a need to use it, the jungles aren't cold you know." I answer. "Also because it clears up space for other equipment." "Such as?" Barkhorn responds. "You didn't look did you?" I ask. "Of course not." She answers while folding her arms over her chest. "Well let me show you." I say as I pull back a group of uniforms that was hiding a wooden cane, a steel box, dog food and a cardboard box of chocolate. "Here yea go." I say as I start to unlock the box. "And there." I say as the long and flat box opens to show off a sword. "What type of sword is that?" Barkhorn asks while leaning over my shoulder. "Hopefully you'll never need to know." I answer. "That sounds ominous." She states while standing back up. "That's the point." I state before closing and locking the box.

"Looking good, Lucchini." Shirley said while standing back to admire her handy work. "It's so hot in this..." Lucchini moaned. "Now you see how it feels for me to go from a nice cold temperature to baking alive." I answer. "Bear with it, Lucchini." Shirley said as I hefted my heavy Snow White winter jacket and placed my white neck warmer on, followed by my white toque. "The stratosphere is super cold." Shirley continued. "I hate cold!" Lucchini exclaimed. "Then you wouldn't do well in Manitoba." I shot back. "Now put these on." Shirley said while placing earmuffs on Lucchini's head. "Your coat is alittle big for me, Barkhorn." Yoshika said. "Better than no coat." Perrine answered. I then noticed a table of tea. "What's all that?" Barkhorn asked Lynne as she walked up. "I decided to try making ginger tea. It's supposed to warm your body." Lynne answered. "Smart." I commented while lighting up a smoke. "Oi Yoshika you want one?" I ask her. "No thanks." Was my response. I then downed the tea before placing the cigarette back. "How is it?" Lynne asks. "Not half back." I say as everyone else looks indecisive. "I used a lot of sugar, so it should be easy to drink." Lynne stated. "So that's why it reminds me of maple syrup." I say as everyone talks about how it doesn't taste right. Only commander was able to remain unfazed.

Mouth on the launch pad it was Sanya and Yoshika forming the top with Lynne, Perrine, Lucchini, Eila And Myself forking the second layer and Commander, Major, Barkhorn, Erica and Shirley forming the bottom layer. Then the countdown began. "Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One." Everyone counted down. Then the bottom layer started to carry us up. At ten thousand meters the bottom group broke off and the second layer used their boosters to take them up to twenty thousand meters. Then we broke away. "Godspeed, Yoshika, Sanya, Godspeed." I say as I fall away and waited for them to climb to 33,333 meters. I glanced over to Eila as she tried invain to catch up to Sanya. "No! I'll... I'll protect Sanya!" She called out. "What are you doing, Eila?" Asked Sanya. "You said it yourself. That I couldn't do it because I gave up. I don't want to give up. I will protect you!" She called out as she started losing ground. I watched as Yoshika grabbed Eila's hand and carried her to Sanya. I couldn't hear anything they said so I just spoke up. "Houston we have a problem." I muttered as I continued to watch from below. "Nevermind." I said as Sanya promised to bring Eila back down, cheers went up all around. "Godspeed, girls, Godspeed." I cheer as I watch them continue to climb. I watch as Yoshika breaks away and falls towards earth. "I'll catch her!" I say as I fly a few meters to my left and catch her in my arms. "Nice of you to drop in." I say just after I catch her. "Thanks." She answers. I look up just in time to see the Neuroi shatter into pieces. Everyone on the ground watch as they retune to base in one shape. "Alright I'll test you girls for hypoxia." I say as I walk up. "Wait what!" Eila says. "It's just a few reactionary tests." I answer before proceeding with the tests. "Both of you are fine." I say giving them the all clear as I finish writing down my observations.

Upon entering my room I found Barkhorn lost in thought while staring at a picture of Chris. "You miss her, don't you?" I ask while sitting on her bed. "Yea I do." She answers. "You'll see her again." I answer as I pat her back. "You'll survive, everyone but me I know will survive." "So you knew when Chris would wake up?" She asks. "Not the exact date or episode I just knew it was early in the series." I answer. "Thank you. But I have stuff to do so... OUT!" She says as she kicks me out. "Atlest pass out my sword." I call back in before she throws my sword box at me.

I find a small open field and unlock the box before taking out my sword. "Lets see if you really can help. I'll need you soon." I whisper as I draw it out of its sheath. I could feel the energy leave me and go into the sword. With a swing I watched as I chopped a tree in half. "Heh." I smiled as I twirled around and struck out with a frenzy. The everything the blade touched was cut, from the grass to the rock in the centre.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 12

"This is not gonna be a good day." I mutter as I walk into the kitchen at 5:00 I the morning. Brewing up a pot of coffee I set myself down and pull my cap down further to cover my eyes. A few seconds later the coffee is done and I pour myself a cup. Swishing it around in my mug I watch it twirl around before I take a sip. "Today is an episode 7. This is bad.

The wake up call shatters the silence of the kitchen as I finish my second cup of coffee. "Ugh, it starts. Now how to advoid this." I ponder as I walk throught the halls. Arriving at the lounge I watch as everyone else comes in. "Good morning, ladies and Morrison." Commander starts. "This is today's update. Thanks to the maintenance groups hard work for the past week, we now have a functioning bath. It will be ready to use at noon today." Yoshika and Lynne give off excited squeals while I just groan inwardly. 'So I just have to advoid Major around Lunch time, should be easy.' I think. **"Oh that's where ya wrong Morrison, you'll be dragged into this all the way through."** Jarvis cuts in. 'Damn it!' I respond. As cheers go on all around me. "They built it outside, overlooking the Adriatic Sea." Commander spoke up over the noise. "Oh? An open-air bath, Huh?" Major says wishfully. "Yeah. Sanya's going to be so excited." Eila said. "You're all off duty today. Please tell everyone about the bath." Commander says. "Yes ma'am." The girls respond. "Isn't that great, Yoshika?" Asks Lynne. "Yeah. Let's take a bath together. You should join us, too, Perrine. You too Morrison." Yoshika answers. "Nahh, I'll pass, I've had one of my daily showers." I respond. "Well, it is nice to take a relaxing bath, after working up a sweat." Perrine responds while Lucchini continues to chant "A bath!" Before stating she's gonna be the first one. "Weren't you paying attention? The bath won't be ready until noon." Major says as she grabs Lucchini's collar. "What? I can't use it yet?" Lucchini questions. "We still have time before we can take our baths... which means there is something we can do to make them more enjoyable." Major continues and this time I outwardly groan. "What is it, Sakamoto?" Yoshika says excitedly. "Work up a sweat with some drills! Everyone, run laps around the base!" Major answers as I book it past her.

I walk away and escape to my room until the lights go out. I then proceed to meet up with Barkhorn who was on her way to wake up Erica. "Mind if I join you?" I ask. "Sure just don't try anything." She answers. "I won't. I have no need." I respond. After a few minutes of silence we arrive at Commander's and Erica's room. "Ladies first." I say as I bow and gesture for her to go first. "I don't understand why you bother to advoid being around any of the girls when they aren't 100% dressed." She says. "It's out of respect." I answer. We soon find ourselves standing behind a pile of crap. Everything from cloths to sheets even a dresser was piled up to make a wall. "I don't care who you are." Barkhorn stats as she picks up Erica's jacket from the top of the pile. "I will not tolerate someone crossing the Siegfried line!" She says naming the pile and throwing Erica's jacket into her sleeping form. "Wake up, Hartmann! Morning's over!" "Just give me forty more minutes..." Erica sleepily says. "Just like her real life counterpart, just missing the alcohol." I mutter before watching Barkhorn try to climb over. But stop because there is no stable foot holds. "Th-There's no place to get my footing..." she says. "Here let me do it." I say as I expertly cross the area. "Wha... how?" Barkhorn asks. "I'll show you." I answer as I cross part of the way before holding out my hands. "I'll lift you over." I state as the lights go off. "Wha?" I say as it gets darker. "I'll still lift you across if you'd like?" I say only for her to practally jump into my arms. "Take me across." She states. "Hold your horses I'm going as fast as possible." I respond as I cross the rest of the way. Placing her down I step back as she starts to berate Hartmann. I look down at my watch and see that it's almost an hour after 12 "shit, shit, shit, shit!" I whisper quiet enough for Barkhorn not to notice. "I found it! It's heading over there!" I heard Yoshika shout. "Something'sgoing on." Erica said finally getting up. Barkhorn three open the door and commanded. "What is all that racket?!" "Barkhorn." Yoshika says. "Making so much noise in the living quarters is grounds for disciplinary action." Barkhorn says as the Neuroi bug flies infront of her face before crawling into her pants. "Ah! There it is!" Yoshika says. "Bug!" Lucchini follows up. "Bug?" Barkhorn asks. "What about a bug? Just who is responsible for all this-" she says before the bug cuts her off by rooting around in there. "Oh, it went into the Captains pants." Eila states. "Barkhorn!" Yoshika goes to say only for Barkhorn to cut her off with. "Shut up! In battle, the ability to make calm decisions can be the difference between life and death. In a situation like this, first you must do... This!" She shouts without giving me any warning she drops her pants scaring Yoshika and me. "Got it!" Erica shouts as she goes to slap the bug but she misses it and gets Barkhorn's behind instead, who lets out a sound like a moan but more high pitched. "Too slow." Erica says. "Little warning next time you moon a guy." I say as I continue to cover my eyes. "H-Hartmann..." Barkhorn starts to go off but Yoshika cuts her off with "It's getting away!" Before everyone goes after it excloud me, Erica and Barkhorn, who was still in shock. "Erica wanna help me carry her back to our room?" I ask before Barlhorn chases after them. "Alright I'm going to advoid this bug and go take a bath." I say as I walk off after barkhorn.

After walking part of the way I bumped into Commander. "Afternoon Morrison." She said as I stopped just before walking into her. "Oh, Commander, I didn't notice you there. I just off to take a bath because everyone else has already." I answer. "Oh, well I was just going to take one." She responds as we continue down the hall. "If you want I could wait until you're done?" I offer hoping she would take it. "No, I don't mind if you join me." She shots down my hope. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck! Jarvis help' I call out to my Neuroi core. **"Not much I can do aside from warn you that the Neuroi is on its way."** Jarvis answers. 'Damn, that's not much help!' I shoot back just as we get to the bath house. "You first Commander, tell me when you're done changing." I say as I try invain to get her to change alone. "Nonsense, I trust you won't try anything so you can come in." She says as she pushes me in. I head to the other side of the room to advoid looking in her general direction, to give her some privacy. "It sure is dark. I wonder if maybe the maintenance group hasn't finished the lighting yet." She comments on the lack of light. "Well I can use my aura sense so it doesn't bug me much." I respond. "Plus it's bright outside so we should have to worry about anything." "You sure?" She asks. "Yea I'm sure." I respond. Before we both finish and leave. I gotta admit that the water was nice and cold. "This is the dream." I say as I sink into the water up to my neck. "Yes it would be better if a war wasn't going on." Commander agrees. "Forget about the war while you soak, it should make you feel better." I say. "Alright I'll try." She responds.

We were busy getting dressed after our bath I forgot to make it quick or stay in the bath longer so now I was going to suffer the consciences. "Just like Mio said, that really melted away my exhaustion." Commanded said before everyone burst in. "That's it." Eila said. "Knock first next time!" I say as I quickly button up my shirt. "Right there." Eila continued ignoring me. "There!" Major said while looking over to Commander. "H-Hey!" Commanded exclaimed under the gaze. "Now's my chance!" Perrine said as she lunges towards Commander. I turn away and cover my ears. "I see it!" Major shouts before Commander gives off a scream that could shatter windows. "Well done, Minna." I hear Major say over the ringing in my ears. "WHAT!" I shout back only to be greeted with congadulations towards Commander. "What are you saying?" I ask or more accurately shout.

A few days later Commander was awarded a medal for destroying her 200th Neuroi core. While I recovered from the noise She made.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 13

Early in the morning I slipped out into the forest and back to the clearing. "Once more." I mutter as I try another strike. **"Morrison, if you keep going like this all your magic will be gone."** Jarvis spoke up. 'Jarvis, there isn't much else I can do.' I respond to my core.

At breakfast Yoshika was late, which was surprising even to me. Everyone else was seated around the table except Shirley and Lucchini, who were both cooking. I was going through a couple letters from men in my old unit. Mostly informing me on progress and casualties. So far over half had been replaced. "Another one bites the dust." I mutter as I remove an image of my old unit from boot camp half of them had a black X over their faces. Marking another X. This time over the man that was crouching next to me. "May you rest in peace Johnnson." I mutter before putting it away. As I do Yoshika walks in and sits down across from Barkhorn and beside Lynne. "Oh, Miyafuji. You're late." Shirley says greeting her from the kitchen. "This morning is zuppa do farro and vongole bianco!" Lucchini states from the kitchen while snapping a pair of tongs. "We made it." Lucchini continued. "Okay." Yoshika responds. "What's dragging you down Yoshika?" I ask. "Oh, nothing at all." She responds. "If you're feeling down what usually works for me is either some strong booze or a few days of solitude." I suggest. "No, I'm fine." Yoshika turns me down. "Then eat!" Barkhorn snaps. "Even if you're not hungry. You think someone who doesn't fuel themselves will be 100% ready to fight in an emergency?" "U-Understood..." Yoshika says. "Fuel?" Me and Shirley question. "Geez... I don't wanna hear army lectures every waking moment." Erica says to Barkhorn. "Hey, Hartmann! Is that how a Karlesland solider should speak?" Barkhorn responds. "There she goes again." Erica says to me. "Listen to me. Unlike the situation in Britannia, we're heavily lacking in firepower. Our role has never been more critical." Barkhorn snaps at Erica. "Thanks for the meal!" Yoshika calls out breaking apart Barkhorn and Erica. "Hey Morrison What's in your mail?" Asks Lynne. "Just some information on how my old unit is doing." I answer. "Really? Let's see.!" Erica says as she grabs my letter. "Hey Erica, give that back." I say as I try to grab it from her hands. "'I heard you got promoted to squadron leader, sounds like a comfortable stationing far from the frontlines with lots of cute girls around. Must be nice, all we got out here is the mud and the insects which are keen on sucking us dry and, then the Neuroi, they seem to want to kill us all, but hey the feelings are mutual. Anyway the main reason I'm writing to you is to tell you Lieutenant Johnnson took a Neuroi blade to the head a few days ago, wasn't pretty when we found him. Aperantly he was supposed to bring back a few solider who had gotten lost in the woods a few days before but was ambushed by four Neuroi. He ffought hard and took down two before one got him in the back of the head, you can now cross him off. At times like these it feels like no one from the original unit but you will make it out alive.'" Erica reads gradually getting quieter and quieter after getting to the part about Johnnson. "The infantry have a hard time at the front. Many of them were no more than kids when they signed up..." I trail off. "Anyway. May I have my mail back." I ask as I hold out my hand while Erica gives it to me. "Now I'm off to get some stuff done." I say before tucking in my chair and leaving.

Awhile later I'm out on a training run with Yoshika, Perrine and Lynne. I was off to the side by Lynne as Yoshika and Perrine went head to head. I watched as Yoshika used her supirior manoeuvrability to get on Perrine's six before I saw smoke come from her left engine. Yoshika fires off to Perrine's left and she took advantage of that by climbing and circling onto Yoshika's tail and painting her head to toe in orange paint. That's when Lynne blows the whistle and announces. "The match is over. Perrine is the winner." "B-But of course. She never stood a chance." Perrine states. "Morrison. You're up next." Lynne says to me. "Alright." I mutter as Perrine and I fly off. It's really sad watching them try to best me in aerial combat. In the end, Yoshika lost to Perrine multiple times while Perrine lost to me the same number of times. The last match was between Perrine and Yoshika. Once Perrine shot Yoshika I began to notice a trend. That's when Lynne blew her whistle again. "The match is over. Perrine is the winner." She announces again. Looking over to Yoshika I ask. "Yoshika you good, looks like you could use a couple hours of rest. Maybe you should get some R&R while I take a look at your striker." I suggest as the engine once again gives off a strange sound. "No I'm fine." Yoshika argues and I don't push the matter. I leave the others to help Yoshika as I fly down to the Major.

"Major I suggest allowing me a look into her striker. I've seen thick black smoke coming from it. Might be something off inside." I say as we walk down the hall. "Alright you look into that and I'll schedule her a check up." Major agrees with me. "Alright I'll do that now." I say before walking off.

"I cross checked everything, but didn't notice anything unusual. The magic engine has been given a complete overhaul. I even swapped in some new spark plugs and oil, but I think it might be that the striker is either to old or Yoshika has grown so powerful that the engine can't keep up with the power and Ah floods the engine. Early spitfire engines had a similar problem with their floating carburetter in negative g manoeuvres or if you rolled the aircraft." I explain as I whip my hands off with an oily cloth. "I see. So nothing's wrong with the striker. Understood. Thank you Morrison for looking into it." Major said as she stood infront of me. "Welcome. Glad I could be of help." I answer before turning back to Yoshika's striker which was laid out on a table behind me. "I'll just finish putting everything back."

"But that makes it all the more odd." I hear Barkhorn state from within the medical wing. "Barkhorn... when did you get here?" I hear Major ask. "I verified that you're having trouble flying. Until we get to the root of the problem, I cannot send you into battle. So Morrison has agree to run a few tests to find the root of the problem." I hear Barkhorn say. I open the door and state. "I never agreed to anything like that Captain Barkhorn And since I rank higher than you, you can't order me to." Walking in I continue. "But I do have a couple theories on it and would like to run some experiments. Nothing harmful just a few hours of flying and combat manoeuvres in different strikers. That's all." I stop to stand beside Barkhorn. "As for you Barkhorn, don't drag me into things again, I've never dragged you into my troubles willingly." All the while the girls are looking nervous. "Is that true, Yoshika? You're having troubles flying?" Lynne asks Yoshika. "I'm ordering you grounded until we know what's disabling you." Barkhorn says. "I'll get some paper and we can start a test now if you'd like. It's quick but I can see what I'm working with. It might mean you need a new model or maybe a different style of aircraft." I continue. "No! I swear I can fly!" Yoshika shouts. "I've seen the black smoke of a flooded engine from your left striker. When I looked into it, it showed some signs of too much magic being used." I calmly responded. "That was an order from a superior officer." Barkhorn drowns me out. "Yeah. I think it's for the best." Major agrees with Barkhorn. "No way!" Yoshika shouts again. "Yoshika..." Lynne says calming her down. "Yoshika I can start some testing if you'd like, I just need you to come with me." I say as I wave to her to follow me.

Mince we were far enough from the medical bay I spoke. "Yoshika you may be grounded for now but I'm gonna get to the root of this sooner or later. It's your choice, help me out now or wait till tomorrow." I say. "Either way I'm running some tests." "I'll have to think about it." She said. She sounded defeated. I let out a loud sigh before saying. "Yoshika, believe it or not but you do have troubles flying, either the A6M2 is not doing its job or it's not capable of doing its job for some reason. We can rule out that it's not doing its job but we can't pin down the reason for it not being capable yet so please listen to barkhorn for now." I try to cheer her up before leaving her to think my offer over.

"Barkhorn. I know you worry about Yoshika but... *sigh* you cant be so protective. She's not three." I say as I walk into our room with her behind me. "I'm not being protective and I don't worry about her." Barkhorn stubbornly refuses. "Stubborn as always, you need to work on that and show that you care in some other way than shouting at her." I say as I climb into bed. "Anyway, night." I say.

The next day was eventful. Between trying to get the A6M2 to work and training Yoshika to restrict the flow of Magic I had it tough. "For once, work with me." I mutter as I proceed to disassemble the engine and piece it back together with Yoshika standing over my shoulder. "Hey Morrison. Nice to see you aren't dead yet." I hear someone call out from behind me. Looking over I spot Williams getting out of a truck. "Yea you to Williams." I respond before returning to work. "Yoshika hold your hand here please." I say as I continue to go throught the engine. "If this works you can fly twice a day with no stress. But if you're stressed it will flood the engine." I explain. "So who's the girl. Your girlfriend?" Williams questions me. "Far from Williams, she's just a friend, you'd be amazed at her raw talent, anyway your here for a reason, do tell." I respond. "Ah, well you see I'm being transferred to Gallia Command for a couple weeks to help out in the radio room, so I thought I'd stop by for a chat." He explains. "I wasn't expecting you to be fixing an engine, I thought you only upgraded them." "Yea well, I got dragged into this by Captain Barkhorn." I say. "Wasn't that the girl who threatened to kill you?" Williams asks. "Barkhorn threatened to kill you?" Yoshika asked. "You don't know? Well let me explain to ya what he did to me." Williams satarted off. "Williams no. Do that and I'll call her here." I threaten. "Ha you wouldn't." He says thinking I'm bluffing. "Barkh-" I go to call before he covers my mouth. "Okay you win." He says. "You need to take risks. Anyway, Yoshika why don't you give him a quick tour and introduce him to some of the girls." I say. "Uh. Okay." She responds before leading him off. "Heh, now I can really work fast." I mutter as I dive back into work.

I wake up to the sound of an explosion. I duck under the table on reflex before I realize that it's just the broom Yoshika has that exploded. Looking over I see Lynne approach Yoshika and sit beside her. I come out just in time to hear. "Isn't the Adriatic beautiful?" "Yeah it is." I answer before theh realize I'm there. "We looked out at the sea like this once before. Do you remember?" Lynne continued after recovering for the surprise that was me. "Yeah." Yoshika answers. "Want me to help fix the broom?" Lynne asks. "Yeah. I'd appreciate that." Yoshika answers. "I'll help too." I say before either could ask me. "It's always good to help friends right."

"Central command dispatched a radio message that in order to strengthen our Romagnan presence, the Fuso fleet and its flagship, the battleship Yamato, will arrive tomorrow." Commanded explained. I was leaning on the wall behind Yoshika and Lynne and had a mug of coffee in my hand. "So it's finally coming here." Commander ended. "The Yamato?" Yoshika asks. "You know it, Yoshika?" Asked Lynne. "Yeah. I saw it when it was docked in Fuso. It's huge!" Yoshika explains. "World record holder of most torpedos used to sink a ship, that number is 19 aswell as holding the record for the biggest naval guns at 18.1 inches." I explain before being interrupted by the phone ringing. "Yes?" Commander asked. "What? The Yamato was in an accident?!" "What?!" Everyone else said while I about spat out my coffee. "All right. Understood." Commander said before hanging up. "That was an emergency request. Earlier, there was an explosion in the Yamato's sickbay. Quite a few people were injured in the blast. They want us to dispatch a medic immediately." Commander explained. "All right. Ready the Type 2 Flying Boat." Major said. "Please let me go!" Yoshika said while standing up. "I might not be able to fight, but I can heal and fly!" "I'm going, too!" Lynne said while standing up aswell. "I can put bandages on people." "Fuck it, I'll go too, it'll help in understanding what's wrong with Yoshika's striker." I say as I walk up to Yoshika and Lynne. "They would arrive much earlier than the flying boat." Major argued for us. "All right. Miyafuji, Lynne, Morrison, head to the Yamato at once." Commanded ordered. "Roger!" We responded.

Mouth flight was simple, Lynne to the left and back abit and Yoshika to the right and back abit. I heard Yoshika's engine sputter. "Are you all right, Yoshika?" Lynne asked. "Did the left engine flood again or no?" I ask. "Y-Yeah..." she responds to Lynne before turning to me and answering that she can't tell. "I'll have to look at it after we patch up those poor fellows who were injured in the explosion." I explain. "The Yamato!" Yoshika suddenly called out. "It's so big!" Lynne said. "Never thought I'd see it above the waves." I say.

Yoshika pushes open the door and walks in followed by Lynne then me. Looking around all I see is injured sailors. "Are you Miyafuji, Lynne and Morrison?" The furthest one asks. "Yes." Yoshika responds while walking up to him and a wounded man laying on the table. "This man sustained the worst injuries. With the equipment here, we can't do anything more for him." The medic explained. "Such horrible injuries..." Lynne said. "Understood." Yoshika said before using her magic to start to heal him. "The bleeding stopped!" The medic sounded surprised. "Medic take me to the explosion Center I'll see what I can find." I say. "Right away." He says as he takes me to the sickbay where I could look for the cause.

suddenly the alarm goes off. **"Morrison, Neuroi are here to kill us."** Jarvis speaks up. **"We got to get airborne and destroy it."** 'alright let's go.' I respond before booking it out of the room and down the hall towards the new sickbay where Yoshika and Lynne were. Just as I reach them the Yamato fired its canons. "Are you okay, Lynne?" Yoshika asked holding Lynne. "We don't have time girls on your feet and let's dispatch the Neuroi now!" I shout as I drag them to their feet and start to drag them down the hallway. Then a shot from the Neuroi off to the right of the ship caused me to stumble. "Damn the Neuroi." I mutter. "We have to get airborne girls. Otherwise we can't help the fleet. Let's go!" I called back to them before continuing in my sprint for the hanger.

MI'm the hangar I could feel the ship rocking from the close calls. I watch as Yoshika's engine sputters and comes to a halt. "Why? Why won't they fly?" Yoshika mutters. "Yoshika?" Lynne asks. "H-Hold on a second." Yoshika says while trying to get it to start. "The engine was just flooded with magic Yoshika. Putting more magic in only makes it worse." I explain. "Cruiser Takao, badly damaged!" Came over the radio. "Damn. Lynne we have to go." I say to Lynne. "Sorry Yoshika but we have to help out the fleet." I explain before going to take off. "Wait! I said, wait!" Yoshika calls after us.

Mince in the air I look over to a smoking cruiser and watch as one of its 20 cm turrets. "This is bad." I say as I climb up to attack the Neuroi only for it to fire again at the cruiser and Lynne to bloke it. "Can you all hear me?" Lynne asked over the radio. "Retreat while we block their attack!" Lynne continues. "We can only buy you a little time! Hurry and retreat!" "All ships, full speed to port!" The admiral calls out. "All ships, full speed retreat!" As he calls this out the Neuroi finally notices me coming up to engage it, a beam comes my way and I throw up a shield only for it to push me back down a few hundred feet. I'm pushed onto the defensive and watch as Lynne fires a shot at it only for it to bounce. "Damn it! We don't have the fire power for this!" I shout as I dive to bloke another shot going for the fleet.

I watch as Lynne starts to run out of magical energy. "Lynne head back to base. I'll deal with this." I tell her. "No! I won't leave you alone out here!" She shots back. "Then try to conserve your energy." I answer before a Neuroi beanie fired at Lynne. She blocks it but just as the beam starts to let up her shield breaks. "Lynne!" I call out before I'm forced to block another beam heading her way. As I'm distracting this Neuroi I see Yoshika zoom in and catch Lynne. "Way to go Yoshika!" I shout only to realize to late that a shot was fired at me, slipping to the right the beam flies by me, later I would realize that I was hit and bleeding badly. I watch as Yoshika makes a shield and rams the front of the Neuroi and enters the beast. I watch as she comes out the back and the Neuroi explodes shortly afterwards. "Yoshika!" Lynne cries as she hugs Yoshika. "Congrats Yoshika, you killed another one." I say while hovering near her. "Lynne, Morrison." Yoshika says. "We did it, Yoshika." Lynne says. "Yeah!" Yoshika agrees. "Yea hug it out you two." I comment before letting my arms fall to my sides. When my left arm hits my left side I feel something wet. "Did I splash myself on takeoff?" I question as I look down at my side only to see that I have a bloody patch instead of the side of my uniform. "Damn I was hit." I say before I start to black out. "Morrison!" Was the last thing I heard before everything went black.

"I don't want that to happen again." I mutter as I come to in my own bed. I could feel the bandage wrapped around my side. Looking around I spot Barkhorn asleep in a chair. "*sigh* Barkhorn you need to stop worrying about me. I'll live." I mutter as I get out of bed and tuck her into her own before heading back to mine.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 14

I was helping in rebuilding the elementary school in a small village with Perrine. "Thanks Morrison. That strength of yours is really helpful." One of the men say after I set a large stack of wood by his feet. "Glad that I could be of use." I respond with a smile before going back to moving wood and brick. As I pass Perrine I see a small child talking with her. "Come with me." The little girl said. "What's wrong babushka?" I ask. "Come see." She responds. "Alright lead the way." I say to the little girl. Walking through a forest we come across a old stone bridge which had a hole in the middle preventing anyone from crossing. "There." The little girl said. "The bridge..." Perrine muttered. "See, that's why my friend can't come to school." The little girl explained.

Major, Erica, Barkhorn, Perrine, Yoshika, Lynne, Lucchini, Shirley and I were all flying over a bridge to counter a Neuroi. "Neuroi spotted!" Major said. "Everyone to battle positions!" "Roger!" We answered before breaking apart, dodging a Neuroi beam that was sent at us. I watched as everyone tried to get close enough to be effective. Yoshika was making the most ground due to the J7W1 she now owned. I watched as Perrine tried to keep up with her to no avail. Yoshika gets in close and attacks from above while I attack from below. Hammer and anvil tactic. My twin Vickers chatter away as I approach it. Suddenly they jam simultaneously. "Damn!" I say as I let them drop. They end up hanging from their slings as I bring my Lee-Enfield to bear on the Neuroi. It then shot at Lynne after she blew a hole in its right wing. Lynne dodged the shot and it struck the top of the bridge causing no major damage but enough to anger Perrine, who charged head long into the Neuroi from below. Firing her Bren gun all the while. While it was distracted with Perrine we all pounced on it. Everyone hounding it like a injured gazell on the African savana. Then one shot exposed the core. Which was destroyed by Perrine as she preformed a staffing run. The Neuroi shattered into the white glowing shards they always do when shot down.

That evening we were all formed up infront of Major and Commander. "Excellent work, everyone." Commander congadulated us. "You all fought well. And you've gotten quite used to the Magnificent Lightning, Miyafuji." Major congadulated her. "Oh, yes. I want to keep practicing until I can use it flawlessly." Yoshika answered. "All right. That's the spirit. Perrine! Perrine?" Major asked. "Y-Y-Yes?" Perrine answered. "You were our MVP today." Major congadulated her. "Oh... Thank you." Perrine responded before walking off. "She seems a bit off." Shirley said. "Right?" Lucchini said popping up infront of Lynne. "What's the matter?" Yoshika asked as Lucchini leaned back in Shirley's chest. "'Cause normally being praised by the Major would make her go... 'Oh Major! That's just how I am sometimes!'" Lucchini said giving an example to go along with it. "'Please give me more of your praise.' Et cetera." Shirley said. "I'm not praising either of you for that proformence girls." I said. "R-Really?" Lynne asked. Before everyone started to laugh. Shortly afterwards we all went our separate ways and off to bed.

Magen I got to my shared room Barkhorn stood there. "You're late." She said. "Yea so?" I ask. "If you weren't late you would know that we're going to the beach tomorrow." She said crossing her arms. "Alright. Night." I say before I pass out and fall onto my bed.

The next day while everyone else cheered and ran to the beach, I stood out as I was carrying a locked metal box. It was the box I kept my sword in. "We're going too." Erica said while grabbing Barkhorn's wrist and dragging her to the water. "W-W-Wait! At least stretch first!" Barkhorn begged as she was pulled towards the water by a running Erica. Once Barkhorn was in the water I turned my back and walked a bit further from the girls. Before I unlocked to box and removed my sword. I spent a couple hours just taking swipes at an old tree trunk gradually peeling off layers before I decided to stop when I heard Commander say something I wasn't expecting. "Lucchini's missing?" "Yeah. She said something about going fishing and left for the rocky area, but hasn't returned." Shirley explained as I walked up behind Barkhorn and Erica. "Come to think of it, Miyafuji and the others supposedly went there after the drill." Major continued. "Lets go and investigate." Commander said before we all walked over to the last place they were known to be. We found a large stack of boxes that looked like stereotypical treasure chests.

We then followed their foot prints to a small cave entrance. "Who's going to go first?" Commanded asked. "I will." I volunteered. "Hey Morrison when did you get that sword?" Erica asked. "I've always had it. Ask Barkhorn if you want to know where it was hidden." I answer before diving into the water. Following the tunnel I find a cave system. Swimming back through I break the water. "Found a cave system, might be where they went." I said before diving back down and going through for a third time. This time I climbed out of the water on the other side. "What do you think?" Commander asked while barkhorn felt the floor. "Someone was walking here recently. My guess is they went inside." Barkhorn explained. "Which way did they go?" Shirley asked. "Shall we split up?" Major asked. "It's dangerous to split up let's try the right side." Commander says. After taking the right hand path we walked for a long time. Eventually Erica complained. "They're really making us work to find them." "But exploring like this is fun!." Barkhorn tries to cut her down. "It's not like Indiana Jones." I say referencing the film. "We're not here to have fun." Commander cut us down. "This looks like a man-made cave." Major comments. "The place we're using as a base is the ruins of an old Witch community. Maybe this cave is part of it." Commanded explained. "Oh?" Major said. "Well, that is one impressive pot." Commander said as we stood infront of a gate. "Our predecessors must have made it. It's incredible." Major explained. "It really is." Commander agreed. "Who cares about that?" Erica said before leaning back on a pressure plate which pushed the pot over, before I cold react the Major had pushed commander out of the way and had it land on her. I plugged my ears knowing the screaming to come. Then barkhorn broke the pot with her magic to reveal Major. I then unplugged my ears and said. "You know that that's all wine, right?" "Huh? M-Mio?" Commander asked. "Banzai!" Major cried out throwing her arms up in the air before falling asleep. "Huh? Uh, Mio... Er, Major, are you all right?" Commander asked. "No, she's flat out drunk and will suffer from the hangover tomorrow." I stated as Major woke and kissed Commander, looking away I comment. "Now Commanders drunk." Before The Major ran away. "She ran away." Barkhorn said. "Thanks captain obvious." I said. "What do we do, Minna?" Barkhorn asked while looking over to Commander. "Minna?" She questions. "Minna's gonna need a minute." Erica explained. Looking at Barkhorn I see shock on her face. "Alright since I'm the highest ranking officer who's still not drunk, which is surprising considered how much I drink. We're going to go after the Major and hope that we find the others along the way. Erica you got Commander okay." I say. "Roger!" They all respond. "Lets go!" I say before walking after the major.

Mad continue to walk and we come across a room with two suits of Iorn armour. "Well that's unexpected." I comment as I walk in. "Yea." Barkhorn says. "Wonder what's through that door." "I don't know, I'll go first." I said as I walked forward. Reaching the two suits I crouch down and feel along the edge of the door frame for a trip wire. Just in case. As soon as I step back to get a better look at it the suit on my left moves and reaches out to stab me with his sword. I deflect it but then feel a shape pain go through my right side as the suit on the right cuts my side near my last rib. "Damn." I mutter as I jump back. "I'm coming to help!" Barkhorn calls. "No! Stay back and get any of them that gets by me!" I call back. Then the left strikes again and this time I grab his wrist and twist it so he drops his sword. Nothing happens so knock off his head with a punch. I watch as the armour clatters to the ground after that. "Heh, that evens it out." I comment before charging the other armour and knocking off its helmet with a well placed blow from my sword. "There. Now how bad is it?" I ask as I turn to the girls. "Pretty bad as in you will need medical attention sooner rather than later." Barkhorn explains. "Alright let's find Yoshika." I said while walking throught the doorway to see Perrine standing way down at the bottom with the major a couple levels up and then us at the top. "Oh lucchini's here." Shirley comments as she walks in behind me. "And Miyafuji, Perrine and Lynne. All right. Let's go, Hartmann." Barkhorn says walking in right behind Shirley. "So heavy..." Erica comments carrying Commander. "Hey! What were you guys doing?" Shirley calls out to them. "We were worried about you." Barlhorn says. "And Morrison got stabbed so Miyafuji could you help him out." "Sure." Yoshika answers before coming over and using her magic to heal the stab wound.

"My skin stings..." Sanya complains. "I can't put my pants on like this." Eila complains aswell. "That's what you girls get for sitting in the sun all day." I comment while looking out the window. "I see. The base is full of mysteries. Oh yeah. What happened to the Lieuteneant Colonel?" Major asked. "Huh?" Shirley, Erica and Barkhorn said. "You kissed her when you were drunk, Major." I said. "She's on the beach if you want to find her." "WHAT?!" Shouted the Major causing Vadim, who was lying on the couch, to jump up so high we could see him over the back of the couch. " you need to control yourself Major. Besides she looked happy while it happened." I say before a kick to the gonads brings me down. "If you girls keep doing that, I'll end up infertile." I wheeze out.

A few days later I was cleaning my rifle while Lynne and Yoshika were doing landury. "Hey, Lynne, your last name's Bishop, right?" I ask. "Yeah." She responds. Holding up my rifle I look into the breach. "It's a transport plane." Yoshika says as I hear the three engines. "It's a Ju 52 I believe." I say as I finish cleaning and place everything back together quickly. "Looks like Commander Minna is back." Lynne said. Suddenly Yoshika said something I wasn't expecting and I looked up. "She jumped out!" "Oh no, it's this episode." I mutter as I watch the witch fall face first towards the ground before activating her magic and landing on her feet with a flip. The girls were staring in awe while I was facepalming. "Today is not gonna be a good day." I mutter before the witch speaks. "Hey. Nice to meet you, kitties." "Kitties?! Ma'am I don't know who you are or where you came from so I'll just tell you this. Don't be stupid, and Don't jump out of a perfectly good plane unless you're an airborne ranger!" I exclaim as I walk up to her. "Ground crew shouldn't speak up to witches." She responded. "I've been mistake for that already, anyways, I'm a witch, the one and only male witch in the world." I respond. "I also hold a higher rank than you." I point out. "Marseille! Why are you here?" Barkhorn cuts in. "You're supposed to be in Africa." "Oh, hey, Hartmann! It's been so long!" She said before running up to Erica. "Oh lord in heaven save my soul from enternal damnnation." I say making the sign of the cross. "Since pilot training? No. It was the 4th company, in the JG 52! That's right! Do you remember that one officer who was so grouchy all the time? What was her name-" Marsielle was cut off from her rambling by Barkhorn. "Barkhorn!" "Ah, that's right. It's been a while, Barkhorn. How've you been?" Marsielle asks while holding out her hand to shake. "Been just fine." Barkhorn responds taking the shake only for them to stare each other down. "I wonder if that cool person is Barkhorn's friend." Yoshika said. "D-Doesn't look that way..." Lynne nervously responded. "I agree Lynne, I agree." I say before stubbing out my cigarette on the bottom of my boot.

We were all gathered in the briefing room, everyone else was seated waiting for the announcement while I was playing with Vadim. He was strong for a pup holding on even when I would drag him halfway across the room. "A super-ace with 200 kills!" Lynne said which got my attention. "200... wow!" Yoshika said. "You know I have 337 kills right now, right?" I ask while hanging over the back of the bench. Vadim then jumps up onto my back and I scratch his head. "And she's really beautiful, with fans all over the world, not just in Karlesland. It says her nickname is the star of Africa..." Lynne explains. "Isn't he supposed to be dead? Didn't he die in1942, fighting the British." I ask. "Who?" Lynne says as she looks up at me. "Hans-Joachim Marseille, with 158 kills under his belt he was shot down over Africa and died." I explain. "Okay. Everyone, quiet!" Commander said while she walked in followed by Major then Marsielle. "Two of the three assigned Witches will charge in here. They'll defeat the escort Neuroi and take out the core. That is all." Major explained. "Uh. Who's the third?" I ask. "You." Was the response I got from her. "Oh, okay... Wait. WHAT!?" I shouted standing up suddenly causing Vadim to fall off. "Why am I the third witch?" I ask. "Because I've seen you go Neuroi." Major said. "Go Neuroi? Oh you must mean my Neuroi form. Yea not happening." I answered. "And why is that." Major asked making it sound like a statement. "Because it hurts and usually causes me to faint after use, the human body isn't designed for repeated black outs." I explain. "You were ordered to by command." Major said. "Damn those politicians! Can't trust 'em to do anything without paying them, even then they might betray you!" I shout venting my anger against modern politics. "Now back to explaining the plan." Major said. "We'll use a submarine to approach the area of operations. It can only hold and launch two units." "I'll announce the witches participating in this mission. The first one is here on loan from the 31st Luftwaffe, to help support this operation, Captain Hanna Marseille." Commander said before Barkhorn interrupted her. "What is the meaning of this, Lieutenant Colonel? The strike force was supposed to be Hartmann and me." "It's a publicity stunt, Barkhorn, think of how the people would react if a famous ace took on a suicide run and lived. It's like what the fins did with Simo Häyhä during the winter war." I said referencing the famous sniper. "It's orders from the top. Only two members from the 501st will be participating. That's you Captain Barkhorn, along with Squadron leader Morrison." Commander said ignoring my comment. "Impossible!" Marseille cut in. "Barkhorn isn't good enough to be my partner." "What... What are you trying to say, Marseille?" Barkhorn said, I could tell where this was going. "Just what it sounds like. You're not good enough to fight with me, Captain." Marseille said. "Captain..." Commander said trying to defuse the situation. "The only one who is..." Marseille said staring intently at Erica. "Where do you think you're looking, Marseille?" Barkhorn asks while walking towards her. "Your disrespect for your superior officers hasn't changed since the Battle of Karlesland!" Barkhorn then activated her magic and raised her hands as if they were going to grapple. "Captain Barkhorn." Commander said trying again to defuse the fight. "We're the same rank now." Marseille said activating her magic and locking hands with Barkhorn. The for e they were generating was doing some real damage and scaring almost everyone. "Take it outside!" Eila calls over the hymn of energy while I light up a smoke and start to slowly walk towards the fight, my face covered by a shadow, All you could see was the big shiny white grin and two glowing red eyes. "Both of you!" Commanded said still trying in vain to stop them. When everyone but them saw me approaching they knew it was getting bad. I reached out and grabbed the back of their heads and slammed them together. "If you two want to fight, heed Eila's advice. TAKE IT OUTSIDE! And if you chose not to. I'll shot both of you for disobeying orders, got it." I said while raising my trusted Webley. I could see the fear in their eyes as I held it up. "Stop!" Erica called. "I'll be Marseille's partner. That takes care of it, right?" "It should, unless they fight again." I say cocking the hammer. "Now if you need me I'll be at the range working out some frustration." I say before walking out.

*Bang* "Fucking idiots." *bang* "can't they just settle things with diplomacy." *bang* "I shouldn't waste to much ammo here. I'll shot three more times." *bang bang bang* I empty the final three rounds from my gun. *sigh* "much better." I say while rolling my shoulders and reloading my Webley. "Hey Morrison, you done?" Barkhorn asked as she walked up behind me. "Yea, for now, But I feel like I'm gonna have a big headache from miss Marseille." I answer. "Not as bad as the one you gave us." She shot back holding her head. "You really has to smash our heads together and threaten to kill us?" She asked. "Call it, returning the favour." I answered. "I thought you forgot about that." She said. "Nope, I remember just about everything that went down that day." I answer. "Anyway you came here for a reason. What is it." I say. "Well commander wants the three of you to do a training exercise for awhile. So she wants me to tell you to be ready at the hangar in 10." She says. "Alright I just gotta grab some stuff." I say before leaving the range. Arriving at my shared room I quickly fetched my sword and rifle before leaving.

I could feel the air rushing by as I climbed higher and higher. The girls below me opened up on the targets as the closed in from the east. I was above the balloons so I dropped into the Center of them and started shifting at random. One goes down in flames on my right, another on my left and so forth until I see Erica and Marseille approaching. I spot that they'd are having a hard time working together. I the city see Marseille cut her speed and fall in on Erica's six. I fly over to try and stop any fighting only to hear fake machine gun sounds and watch as Erica pretends tic be hit. "Enough, all of you! Return to base immediately!" Commander states over the radio. "Right, right." Marseille says before she rolls, entering the clouds and heads for home. I follow her lead with Erica. "I knew I was going to need some Advil." I say. "What's Advil?" Erica asks. "You'll learn in the future." I respond.

"You three will spend your days in here,until the operation starts. Normally, Captain Marseille would be on her way to the brig for pointing a gun at someone during training. But unfortunately, we don't have one at this base. Instead you'll stay here." Commander said while standing in the doorway. "Hey, why am I here, too?" Erica asks. "Yea, I just did my job, why am I here?" I agreed. "It's a good opportunity. Stay in the same room, and learn to cooperate a little before the mission. And Morrison, no drinking. Understood?" Commander said. "Yes, ma'am." Erica and me both say. "Understood." Marseille says. "You won't be so lucky if this happens again." Commanded says before shutting the door. I hold up my hand and count to 12 before making my way to the window. "Be right back." I said before unlocking and climbing out the window. Climbing up I get to my room. Fiddling with the window causes it to unlock and allow me enterance. "Come here Vadim." I call out to him before also grabbing a bottle of whiskey. "Sorry Commander but unless you want me waking everyone else up in the middle of the night you'll have to be more creative in how you hide my booze." I say before picking up Vadim and climbing back out and down. I knock on the window and Erica opens it. "I'm back and brought some fun." I say as I let Vadim lose in the room. "Yay!" Erica says excitedly before throwing a ball for Vadim. "Hey Marseille. How old are you?" I ask before removing the bottle from my tunic. "17. Why?" She answers. "I was wondering if you were old enough to drink. But you aren't so I shouldn't have to worry about this then." I said showing off the bottle. "Morrison, you know Commander is going to be upset about that." Erica says as she walks up to me. "Well it's better than waking up in the middle of the night to me screaming my lungs out." I answer. "Why would you scream your lungs out at night?" Marseille asks. "It's called PTSD or more commonly known as shell shock. It's a real problem, often happens for me at night unless I have a couple drinks before then." I answer while sitting down on a bed.

The next morning I watched everyone else run laps. "First, Captain Marseille!" Major calls as she passes the finish line. "I win." Marseille proclaims. At breakfast Marseille tried to beat Erica at eating. "One more." "Okay!" Yoshika answers. "Um, do you like Fuso food?" "Yeah. There's a Fuso witch in my squad, too." Marseille answers. "But I can't handle that stuff." "Natto's good for you." Yoshika says. "One more." Marseille says. "Th-There's no more rice." Yoshika explains. "What? I win!" Marseille says before she gets a stomach ache from eating to fast.

That night I was dragged to the bath house by Yoshika and Lynne. "Girls I don't need a bath, I just had a shower." I told them as they dragged me out of the room I shared with Barkhorn. "We know, But baths are also for socializing with friends." Yoshika told me. "Fine I'll just use my aura sense." I said before I closed my eyes. "Marseille and Hartmann." Yoshika says as she and Lynne help guide me. "How was your first bath?" Shirley asked. "It was pretty good..." Marseille started before she stopped due to I assume Lucchini fondling her chest because said girl shouted. "Gotcha!" "Damn you! How dare you get behind me?" Marseille states. "Big! But Shirley wins!" Lucchini responds. "Oh dear god help me escape this alive and with everything still in working order." I mutter as I know what comes next. "Wha-? Impossible! I lose? Look!" Marseille says as I turn away. "They're the shapeliest in the world!" "Shapes a matter of taste!" Shirley shoots back. "Better than sagging." Marseille answers with shots of her own. "Who's sagging? See? They're as perky as you can get 'em!" Shirley shots back. "Right Morrison." "I've been dragged into this like I was forced into this damn bath. I'm not going to comment on anyone's chest so leave me out of this!" I shout back still blind and turned around. "Wait Morrison's here?" Marseille asks. "Yea I'm using my aura sense as to not see anything. Helps when the girls drag me into the bath, that and sitting as far from them as possible and having a towel wrapped around your waist." I respond before I say to Yoshika and Lynne. "I don't want to be standing here anymore. If you girls want me to socialize please do it over something more reasonable, like a chess game." I say before pulling myself from their grasp and walking out still fully clothed.

Later that night I was heading back to the room with a chess board in my hand. Reaching the door I kicked it three times lightly to get someone's attention. "Who is it." I hear Erica call from the inside. "It's me, my hands are full so could you open the door if you both are decent." I call back before Erica opens the door. "What's with the chess board?" Erica asks as I step in. "Well it's to help with your little problem." I answer as I place the board down on a small table and pull up three chairs. "We're also going to have a few bets placed for fun." I said. "So for you Erica, you have to get up on time everyday until the end of the war, and Marseille, you will extend the olive branch of peace to Barkhorn." "Then you have to confess your feelings to Barkhorn." Erica said. "Wait, your single?" Marseille asks. "Yea, always have been." I answered. "Well then, I'll take your first kiss." She says. "Fine but that means you have to win." I said smirking as I knew a four move check mate that would, even if it failed, allow me to win. The first five rounds were wins for me but then they tied it up with me so we were even. "Well that's unexpected." I said looking over their fifth win. "Well, now we're tied, shall we have a tie breaker?" I ask. "Of course!" Marseille shouts. "Alright." I say as I make my first move, setting up a four move checkmate. After the next two moves they effectively prevent me from preforming the four move checkmate. "You May have stopped the four move checkmate but, I still have other skills. I'm not a one trick pony." I say as I settle in for a long game. The next hour is full of them trying desperately to outmanoeuvre me in chess. "You two need to work together not independentally to win this. I purposely set it up so we would have a tie breaker." I say waiting for them to make a unified move. It took them another ten minutes of chasing me around the board to finally make a uniformed move. When they did I stopped running and made some offensive moves against them to see if I could break them. It didn't break them. In fact they managed to take my queen after I took theirs. They match went on until we were both down to a handful of pieces. They then made a move I was hoping they wouldn't see. Marseille then said. "Check." "Mate." Erica finished. "Heh." I said while fixing my officers cap. "I wasn't expecting you to see that opening. But I guess I need to reread the Art of War." I say before looking outside. "It is very late and we should get some sleep."

The last couple days were fine until Commander took my whiskey last night. I ended up waking the whole bass to the sound of my screams. It wasn't pleasant or fun to relive those dark days. Stepping outside the room with Erica I noticed Barkhorn leaning against the wall. "Hey, Trude, What's up?" Erica asked her. "Um... No, it's nothing." Barkhorn says before turning and starting to walk away. "Do you want Hanna's signature?" Erica asks. "It's not for me. My little sister's a fan." Barkhorn explains. "Chris is?" Erica questions. "S-So I thought it might make her happy..." Barkhorn continued. "Okay, I'll ask her for you." Erica says before taking the picture and walking back inside. "Have fun Erica." I call after her. "Here Vadim." I say before Vadim crawls out from under the bed and walks alongside me. Soon we reach the Mess hall and enjoy a quick breakfast and a cup of coffee for me. Vadim got some bacon from Barkhorn. "Don't spoil him Barkhorn, I don't want to return home with a fox that only eats bacon cooked by Yoshika or Lynne." I tell her. "I'm not spoiling him, just feeding him." She responds. "Anyway, the operation should commence soon better get ready." I say before walking off.

Flying in formation with everyone else I double check my equipment for the hundredth time. "Sword check, guns check, everything's here." I mutter as I go through the check list. "Can you hear me? Captain Marseille? Lieutenant Hartmann?" Commander asked. "Yeah, you're coming in fine." Erica answered. "The target is Malta Island, which has been taken over by the Neuroi. The Neuroi that attacked the Fuso fleet is believed to have come from here. The Neuroi has formed a fortress above ground, and they'll be difficult to attack. So we'll use a submarine to get you inside, and we'll defeat them from there. Are you both ready?" Commander explained. "Ready whenever." Marseille answers. "I'm ready, too." Erica chimes in. "Commence operation!" Commander says as I draw my blade and dive rapidly towards the dome shaped Neuroi. 'Jarvis, give me the weakest point.' I call out to my Neuroi core. **"It's aproxametly 300 meters above the water line."** Jarvis answers me. **"Good luck and Godspeed."** 'Thanks.' I answer before I dive down to the point and charge up my sword. The wait is terrible, I could hear Erica and Marseille counting down the Neuroi. When they hit four I strike the Neuroi with four slashes creating a square. I slam my full weight into the Square and watch as it flies in and takes out two. "Two!" I call out before they call out. "Zero!" "338!" I fall out as we destroy the core. Then the exhaustion hits me like a freight train. "Damn, that used to much magical energy." I mutter as Erica and Marseille fly out of the widening hole in the top of the Neuroi. I climb slowly, looking up I see Marseille chasing Erica. "We're at this point now. Huh?" I state while watching the show. I watch as they break and preform a head on pass firing away at each other. They continue their aerial dance as I climb up towards the group as slowly as before maybe a hundred meters a second. They then both point their guns at each other and find out that they are both out of bullets. "Then they didn't settle things..." Barkhorn mutters as I reach their altitude. "They're to evenly matched to settle things. Anyway I just got kill 338 throught 340, score!" I shout as I raise fist in the air before my left engine quits on me. "Woah, damn it I thought I atleast had anoth five before they started to quit on me." I say startled. "Here, I'll help." Barkhorn says as she and Sanya grab ahold of me. "Thanks you two." I say before my right engine quits.

Returning to bass I immediately went to bed, only to be awoken the next day to deal with the press. "Ahh! I don't want to deal with them!" I shouted as I was dragged throught the halls by Barkhorn, Erica and Marseille. "What's so bad, it's not like they're going to kill you." Barkhorn says. "It's too early in the morning to do this and I hate pictures being taken of me." I answer while attempting to stand. "It's just a couple pictures for the newspaper, it's not so bad." Erica says. "Have you ever wondered why I've never had a picture in the newspaper until today, it's because I run from them so they can't get my picture." I say. "Why do you bother running from them?" Marseille asks. "Because I'm the only male witch in the world. Think of how I'll be used by the press to increase the amount of people who join up." I respond as I was finally dragged to the lounge doors. "Fine, I'll sit still for one picture." I compile before they drop me. "Oof. Atleast give me some warning." I say as I stand up. Walking in I spot the camera's and freeze. "Fuck, this many, I thought there was only one or two." I say to Barkhorn. "We'll deal with it, now sit." She says as she points towards a couch that Erica and Marseille were seated on, only the Center seat was left. I give off a sigh before taking my seat. "Morrison! Why did you advoid the camera's so long, you're famous?!" One reporter called out before a rush of questions arose. Standing up I lifted my revolver into the air and fired a single shot. "ONE AT A TIME PLEASE!" I shout as soon as they quiet down. "Now to answer the first question I heard. I advoided the camera's because I don't like being in the public eye, I am only agreeing to one picture of me today. ONE!" I snap as they all rush to take a picture. Then I feel a hand pull my chin towards one direction and watch in shock as Marseille claims her side of the bet. "Not half bad for a man who drinks a lot." She says before returning to the newspaper reporters. "That's you're one picture good I'm done here!" I shout at them before walking off. As I leave I notice Barkhorn was gone and some of the girls were giving me the stink eye. 'What did I do wrong?' I ask myself before Jarvis pipes up. **"You kissed Marseille. What do you think went wrong!"** 'Wait what..?' I try to process what went on. 'Damn her!' I storm out quickly and head for Barkhorn and my room.

creaking open the door I nearly receive a fist to the face. "How dare you show your face around me!" I hear Barkhorn snap. Looking in again I see she has been crying and clearly isn't happy. "Barkhorn I'm sorry but it was all part of a bet I made with her and Erica." I try to explain as I duck under another punch and pop up beside her. "Don't try to pull the wool over my eyes! I bet you slept with her!" She snapes as I duck under an elbow heading my way. Popping up behind her I trap her in a quick grapevine. "Barkhorn, you're making assumptions, nothing like that ever happened between us." I explain before spinning her around and trapping her in a bear hug. "Then why did you kiss her... why..." she trails off. "She is competitive and wanted to beat you to my first kiss. But now I have to finish my end of the deal with Erica, Barkhorn... what are your feelings towards me? I'm aware of mine towards you, so Barkhorn... will you date me?" I ask while holding her close. "Wha... you idiot... of course I will." She said finally calming down and allowed me to loosen my hold on her to a more comfortable hug.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 15

We we're fighting a Neuroi that looked like a paper airplane, it was funny until it started shooting at us. Currently we were using boom and zoom tactics to advoid being hit. Then one of Perrine's shots revealed the core. "Reppuzan!" Major shouted before slashing the air with her katana and creating a wave of magical energy that split the Neuroi in two. "You did it, Sakamoto!" Yoshika cried out. "You defeated it, Major!" Perrine joined in. "Yeah." Major responded before her left engine started to cut out. "Major? Is something wrong?" Yoshika asked. "No. I'm fine." Major responded.

Back at base everyone dispersed to get some sleep. I had Barkhorn walking beside me. "Damn, I'm tired. Let me sleep in tomorrow please." I begged her while leaning on her to show how tired I was. "Yea, not happening." She said brushing me off. "Why not, I know you want to sleep in just as much as I do." I said trying to get her to allow me more sleep time. "Your right I would like to sleep in..." she started giving me hope. "But I'm a soldier of Karlesland, and as a soldier of Karlesland I must be up on time!" She said crushing all hope. "Alright, Vadim wake her in the middle of the night." I said. "Hey don't teach him to do such things or I'll wake you every time he wakes me." She responds as we reach our room. "Fine, Vadim Don't wake her up," I said before getting down close to him and whispering to him. "Wake her up at 12:01." I then climbed into bed with Barkhorn before falling asleep.

Late in the night Barkhorn woke me up to follow through with her threat, I ended up sleeping on the floor after she quite literally kicked me out of bed. "Morning Eila." I said as I walked past her. "Here, Morrison check this out." She said handing me a newspaper with a picture of me and Barkhorn kissing. I nearly spat out my coffee in surprise. Swallowing before speaking I ask. "Who took this picture?" Holding up the newspaper infront of Everyone except Barkhorn. "If no one admits to it I'll have you all running laps around the base for the rest of the day and have cold spam served for lunch and dinner." I threatened only for no one to admit they did it. Pulling the newspaper back down I read the headlines. 'Squadron leader Morrison revealed as the Neuroi hunter and Captain Barkhorn's boyfriend.' "So that's what the press is calling me... 'Neuroi Hunter'..." I say after reading the headlines. "Wait you're the Neuroi Hunter?" Erica asks. "Yea, what's so great about it?" I ask. "The Neuroi Hunter is known for taking down some of the strongest Neuroi we've ever encountered." Commander said calmly. "Yea I work hard and kill lots of Neuroi but I'm not humanities trump card." I respond knowing how everything goes. "Anyway back to how they got this picture."

In the showers later that day I heard some of the ground crew talking. "Is it really possible that squadron leader Morrison is the Neuroi Hunter? I mean it. It's not like he hasn't done anything but we haven't seen him lash out with the rumoured rage." "Yea that's true but remember that's a rumour, it's not confirmed to be true." "Stil can you believe it, he's so lucky." After a few more minutes I got tired of it. "If you guys want the facts just go to the source." I tell them. "Not possible, he's way to high up for some ground crew to talk to." One of them responded. "Well there is no ranks in the showers so you can ask now." I respond. "Wait what! You're squadron leader Morrison!" They said in shock. "Yea, I am. And yes I'm known by the press as the Neuroi Hunter or atleast was." I respond. "But anyway, I have a mission to prepare for." I then leave the shower room and get dressed.

"We shall strike the Neuroi hive with all we have and destroy it in one battle. And that wraps up our final battle plans." Commander finished her explaination of the plan. "And what if it doesn't work?" Barkhorn asks. "Then we'll have to surrender Romagna to the Neuroi and disband the 501st joint fighter wing." Commander said. Shocked gasps went out all around. "Surrender?! Disband the 501st?! That's ridiculous! Minna you just agreed to this?!" Barkhorn accused. "Of course not!" Commander said. I place a hand on Barkhorn's shoulder and stood up. "Sit down Barkhorn. You have to realize that sometimes it's better to live and fight another day, if that means surrendering Romagna then I'm going to fight harder to make sure we win this, put your anger somewhere more productive, like killing the fuckers who are trying to kill us." I say. "We have our job, and so be it I'll die before giving them an inch of our land, I'll make sure the sacrifice of millions of soldiers, sailors and airmen are not in vain!" I watch as everyone starts to agree with me to fight.

That night I made sure Barkhorn didn't try to get up early I effectively pined her in bed by holding her close throughout the night. Around the time Barkhorn would usually wake up she tried to leave bed. "No you need your sleep." I said as I pulled her back in and wrapped her up in blankets. "There, now don't struggle you're getting your sleep whether you like it or not." I then fell asleep again with her struggling beside me. When it came time to untie her I found her fast asleep. "Alright Barkhorn, time to wake up." I say while I untie her from the bundle of sheets I used. "Five more minutes..." she mumbled. "Nope. Vadim if you would." I say as Vadim crawls up and sticks his nose into the arch of her foot to no effect. "Try elsewhere Vadim." I said as I pulled out some clothes for her. I the city heard a scream come from her as Vadim had stuck his cold nose somewhere. "Morning, how was your sleep?" I ask turning around to see a very flustered Barkhorn. "You set Vadim on me." Barkhorn shouted at me. "Well get dressed and ready for a fight or I'll make Vadim stick his nose in the same place again." I threatened before returning to getting dressed.

"Momentarily, the 501st jointfighter wing will be leaving the base to eradicate the Neuroi in operation mars. Our mission is to escort and protect the allied navy's flagship, the Yamato. Everyone, depart!" Commander said. I then booked it towards the hanger sword bouncing from my hip, my rifle slung over my back and my Webley holstered. Jumping into my strikers I felt the familiar flow of magic energy. "This is our last flight." I muttered quietly so no one else could hear me. I was the last to launch up into the sky. We flew close to the deck of the Yamato and the aircraft carrier that was sailing beside it. Pulling up I heard Barkhorn say. "So that's the Yamato." Looking forwards we could all see the Neuroi hive. "That's the Neuroi's hive." Yoshika said. "That's right. That's our final opponent." Commander said. Pulling back the bolt on both of my Vikers I get ready for battle. Then five medium class Neuroi dived out of the sky onto the lead elements of the fleet. "It's begun." Commander said as we banked to the right. "We must protect the Yamato until her Neuroification is complete." Commander ordered before we all broke apart. I flew off abit on my own to deal with three Neuroi harassing the left flank of the fleet. Upon closer inspection they looked like the stereotypical UFO that you see in movies. "This should be fun." I comment as I fly in with my Vickers chattering away taking down three before I passed throught the formation. They then followed after me. I flew straight down before pulling up just above the water, looking back I watched as five of them smashed into the water at high speed, effectively killing them. A shot over my right shoulder caused me to bank right to throw off their aim, the broad side of a heavy cruiser knocked out most of the Neuroi following me. "Watch it, I can only dodge so many shots!" I shout as I fire at the Neuroi trailing me. The remaining two go down quickly.

Then a line of Neuroi wrap around my position as I try to take a breather. "Good, now I don't need to worry about direction." I say before opening up on all the Neuroi that had snakes around me, bringing up my kill count. Then my guns run dry. "Why now." I mutter before diving down again only for them to turn to target the Yamato instead. Pulling up my rifle I fire off four quick shots scoring four kills. Then a Neuroi tried to slam into me, swinging around my rifle and using the butt as a club I destroy the Neuroi before fireing a fifth shot into a mass of Neuroi. Looking around I see that most are exhausted by the fighting. "Time to use this, I hoped to save these rounds for later." I mutter as I put a striper clip of magic infused rounds I had made back in India. "Lets rock and roll." I shout before pulling the trigger. The resounding bang and massive explosion caused the Neuroi to refocouse on me. Three shots came my way. Twisting right I dodged the first, diving down I dodge the second but the third strikes my right side causing blood to splatter out. Another of my rounds fly down range resulting in another magical explosion. Suddenly Commanders voice crackled over the radio. "Anyone who has been depleted of magic power, retreat to the aircraft carrier, Amagi." Then a fourth shot flies at me. I drop altitude to advoid it and then fire another round down range causing more damage. Looking over to the Yamato I see it start to transform into a Neuroi. "Time to fall back." I mutter before makeing my way to the Amagi. As I fall back I see the Yamato fly past me and straight to the Neuroi. It passes over Yoshika, Lynne and Perrine. "Mission complete. Everyone return to the aircraft carrier, Amagi." Commander's voice spoke over the radio. Looking around I watched as they all made their way back to the carrier, I started to make my way back until I remembered something. The Yamato runs out of power. Turning around I watch as the Yamato collides with the Neuroi core of the Neuroi hive sending out a shock wave that shakes me around. I wait for it to fire like planed only for the Yamato not to fire. "Commander! The magic engine dynamo is out of power, I'm going to recharge it!" I shout over the radio as I fly up to the Yamato. Approaching I fend off mulitiple Neuroi to get to the Yamato. Reaching a side door on the control tower I break inside and climb down to the engine, pulling out my radio at the doorway before anyone could protest. "Ugh." I mutter as I cough up some blood. "I must go on." I then continue to make my way down the hallway. "No!" Suddenly crackled over my radio which rested in my hand. "It's not over yet! It's not over. Not this war... Not myself!" Major said. Placing the radio back in my ear I listen for an opening. "I will board the Yamato and start the magic engine dynamo with my magic power!" Major said. "Major, don't bother... *cough* I'm already on board and inside. I won't last much longer, I'm losing to much blood, I can feel it seaping away, my life that is, I have enough magic power to restart the Yamato' magic engine Dynamo..." I trail off before a series of coughs ravage my body. "I'm coughing up blood and can nearly stand, I'm in no fighting shape, but I can do one thing, and that's use my power to recharge the Yamato. I'll die like a Cossack today, don't bother looking for a body it'll be long gone." I finish as I reach the room and place my hands on the core. 'Ready to die Jarvis?' I ask my core. **"As ready as I'll ever be."** He responds. "Three... two... one..." I say before I let the radio drop to the floor as I pour all my magically energy into the core.

I wake on a floor made of a Neuroi shell. Looking up I see two Neuroi cores. "Damn it, how am I still alive?" I question. **"You can thank the nest Morrison."** Jarvis says to me. **"So this is the human's famous 'Neuroi Hunter'. He doesn't seem like much after all."** the second core says. "And just who the hell are you?" I question while standing up and watching them shift into a humanoid form. "I'm the core you call Jarvis. It's good that we can finally meet face to face aside from communicating to you in form of thought." Jarvis said as he walked up beside me and helped me up. "And that fucker?" I say pointing at the other humanoid Neuroi. "I'm known as The Hive." It introduced itself. "And you are now a battery for me to make magic shields and more Neuroi to kill your witch friends." "Like I'd let you do that." I responded before a screen popped up to my left. "Care to see how they fare against my army." It said gesturing to the screen. "It will surprise you how badly they are doing." "I know how this ends so please don't try to bother with me like that. I know that you're trying to demoralize me but you won't do that if I know how this fight ends." I say while stepping towards the Neuroi hive core. "Now take this." I said as I swung my fist into what I thought was it's face. I was knocked back a few steps before it regained its balance. "That was a strong punch but I can hit harder." I said before lashing back at me only for me to grab ahold of it's wrist and flip it over my back and slam it intoxicating the ground. "You may be stronger but I'm more skilled in combat." I say as I rain punches into its face. The marks become dents which then get deeper and deeper. It was slow going to try to break through its face and crush the core. Then Jarvis stopped me. "Morrison, if you kill him, we all die, he has to be kill from the outside for us to escape alive even then we could die, you see your body has been relying on my to keep it going for too long, if I die then you die from organ failure." "So if I kill him before someone destroys his physical body we both die, so how can we both live while killing him." I ask. "If you use your magic to keep me alive I will keep you alive but it'll cost you." Jarvis explains. "It'll cost me what?" I ask. "It'll cost you you're magic, chances are you won't be able to use magic again, ever." Jarvis explains. "I'll sacrafice my magic to stay alive, maybe I can use it again with effort." I say before getting off the Neuroi. And watching the screen. It has no sound but I can see actions. I watch as Yoshika dodges Neuroi passes trying to get to Major's sword. Suddenly I feel like I'm weakening. "What's this?" I ask as I continue to watch the screen. "You're drying up. Soon you won't be able to beat him and only I will." Jarvis answers. "If it comes to you verses him, kill him, show no mercy Jarvis." I say before I start to feel weaker again. Looking over to the screen I watch as Yoshika gripes the sword and pulls at first it does nothing until she pumps magic energy into it, she flies up above the core before diving down onto it. I watch as she smashes through a shield that was put up and smash the Neuroi core with it. "Time to die!" I shout as I spin around and with Jarvis smash my fist straight into the Neuroi's face. "Morrison, now!" Jarvis says before I let all my magic flow to him. I feel unconsciousness claim me again as I feel me body fall, I feel someone grasp my hand before I lose all consciousness.

I felt my eyes crack open to see a bright light. "Am I finally dead?" I wonder outloud as I place my hand infrom of my eyes to cover the light. "No, you're still alive, we caught you before you splashed into the water. Apparently you're magic is gone." I heard Commander say. "So, I'm still alive." I chuckle. "No, you're dead or atleast to the public you are." Barkhorn said. "Thank god! No more reporters hounding me!" I exclaim as I shoot upon bed only to realize that I'm not wearing much aside from my boxers. "Sorry Commander." I apologize as she and Erica look away. "Anyway, what do you plan to do?" Commander asks. "Think you could get a meeting with officers and the report of my death." I ask before Erica hands me the paper announcing my death. "What do you have planned Morrison?" Barkhorn asks as I read over the paper. "So I was promoted to wing commander huh? Barkhorn get my uniform I've got a meeting with the high command." I order. "Yes, Sir." She salutes before leaving.

"We are sad to inform you that Wing Commander Morrison has officially passed away." I listened as Commander announced that to the allied high command. "We already knew that, you said it was something important that you needed all commanders to be here." I heard an officer say. "Damn right it's important!" I shout as I kick open the doors. "Have you so little faith in me that you can't see that I'm still fucking alive and kicking!" I shout at them before lifting up the paper announcing my death. "Now who's bright idea was this!?" I asked. "Because it gives me the perfect reason to retire in peace as of now." I say as I turn and leave with Barkhorn waiting outside. "There now I don't need to worry about anything right now." I say as I hand her a slip of paper. "You can reach me at this phone number." "This is Yoshika's phone number?" Barkhorn says. "Yup I'm moving into a small house beside Yoshika's, I'll be doing farming there." I say while we walk away. In the background I could hear Commander and Erica laughing and the officers shouting about who's fault it is that they lost a powerful witch. 'Hey Jarvis you still there?' I ask him. **"Yep still alive aswell."** Jarvis answers. 'That's good, that's good.' I answer.

Weeks later I found myself being greeted by a happy Yoshika and her family. "How you've been Yoshika?" I asked. "Great, the paper recently announced that you had retired after operarion mars and the high command had said you were dead instead." She exclaimed in her usually happy tone. "That's fine, as long as no reporter comes here I'll be fine." I say as we start our walk to our new lives.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 16

I was walking through the forest with Yoshika's friend Michiko who we call Micchan. "Yoshika, where are you?" She called out. I shifted the strap on my M1897 shotgun to a more comfortable position as Vadim followed closely behind me. "Yoshika!" She called out again. Suddenly a bear appeared to our right. I reach out and grab her forcing her behind me as I level the shotgun. "Hey, Micchan!" Yoshika called out before it was revealed that she was riding the bear. "Don't scare us like that Yoshika." I said. "You nearly gave me a heart attack." I slipped the shotgun back up onto my shoulder. "Come on!" She said patting the back of the head. "You go Micchan. I'll walk with Vadim." I said. The forest was beautiful as we walked through it, almost like there wasn't a war going on. "This is the bear cub you saved back in spring, right?" Micchan asked as I lit up a cigarette, old habits die hard. "Yeah. He sure grew up fast, didn't he?" Yoshika said still her care free self. "Y-Yeah... Yoshika, hows your studying going? You applied to Teito Girls Medical School, right?" Micchan said before Yoshika looked alittle down. "It's not going well." Yoshika said. "You we're in the European theatre for most of your time, it's not like you can train and kill Neuroi while studying." I say. "But you managed to get a small farm going and make lots of money from it. How?" Yoshika asked me. "Let's call it business." I respond. "I'll have to make up for all I missed before next year's entrance exams. I'll become a great doctor, whatever it takes!" Yoshika exclaimed before another bear stepped out onto the path infront of us. "Is that his mommy?" Micchan asked. Yoshika leaned towards the bears head before saying. "Thanks! We'll be fine from here." We watched as the bear approached the mother bear and they continued on their way. "Bye-bye!" Yoshika callee out after it. "Oh right, herbs! I've found some Hypericum for you!" Micchan said. "That stuff works wonders on bruises and small cuts! Where is it?" Yoshika asked before the sound of barking brought our attention elsewhere.

Looking around we spotted a small dog trapped on a rock in the middle of a rushing river. I watched as Yoshika ran down to the rivers edge and used rocks like stepping stones to reach the pup. "Be careful, Yoshika!" Micchan called after her. I looked at the water and watched it rush by quickly. Then on Yoshika's return trip she slipped and fell into the water. Immediately I drop my shotgun and tear off my shirt before diving in to rescue Yoshika. She was being carried down steam quickly and I couldn't reach her before she managed to grab a hold of a stick that was caught between two bolders. Then the stick broke. I reached out to catch her hand but missed. I started to swim for shore knowing what was to come. I watched as Yoshika was saved by a witch. "Saving that dog from drowning was very noble of you, but you ought to consider your own swimming abilities first." The witch said to Yoshika before touching down. "I'm sorry." Yoshika said. "As long as you understand." The new witch said. "Thank you!" Yoshika responded. "Thanks Micchan." I said as she handed me my shirt and shotgun. "And Yoshika please next time something involves any form of water let me do it first otherwise you could get hurt." "But Barkhorn would be mad if you got hurt now." Yoshika said. "What she doesn't know won't hurt her." I answer. "Yoshika?" The witch questioned. "Could it be that you're pilot Officer Mitafuji Yoshika?" "How do you know my name?" Yoshika asked. "F-Forgive my impertinence! I am Hattori Shizuka, first year at the Fuso Navel Academy! You've always been a role model for me, Officer! You saved the carrier Akagi on your maiden flight! You fought alongside the greatest aces in the 501st joint wing, and saved not only Gallia but Venezia too! That's amazing!" The new witch now known as Hattori. "Oh, really?" Yoshika asked. "Squadron leader Sakamoto often tells stories of your heroic deeds in Europe!" Hattori said. "She does?" Yoshika asked. "I bring with me an official visa for you to study abroad in Europe!" Hattori said. "Europe?" Micchan asks. "Study abroad?" Yoshika asks. "Well Yoshika, means you're heading back to Europe, say hi to everyone for me." I say placing my hand on her shoulder. "You'll come along too, right Morrison?" Yoshika asks. "I'm retired, no more fighting for me or leaving home for me." I answer. "Sorry Yoshika." "Wait you're Wing Commander Morrison right?" Hattori asked. "Former Wing Commander, again retired." I answer. "I have a letter for you from allied high command. Here." She says as she hands me a letter. Opening it I read over it once, then twice, then a third time. "What the hell! I'm being called back! What's the fuck do they want from me now, it's not like I'm going to work for them again!" I shout as I crumple up the letter.

Back at Yoshika's place I was seated with Yoshika and Micchan, cleaning my medals from years of service. "I didn't know you became a Pilot Officer!" Micchan said. "They rewarded me with a promotion when's we freed Romagna." Yoshika answered. "Rewarded?" Micchan asked. "What do you say, Yoshika?" Her mother asked cutting them off. "But why Europe?" Yoshika asks while we all leave her room, I slipped my medals back in my breast pocket. "The Helvetian Madical School's new term starts next month. When they heard you wanted to become a doctor, they decided to invite you." Hattori explained. "Yoshika, there's no better place than Helvetia if you want to become a doctor!" Micchan said excitedly. "Really?" Yoshika asked. "Yea trust me." I answered pulling out my transfer papers. "Seems like I'll be transferred to a nearby witch wing. I might as well tag along with you." I say while reading over the papers again. "I'll go, then." Yoshika said. "Yoshika..." Micchan trailed off. "Are you sure you don't want to think about it some more?" Yoshika's mother asked. "It's fine! I wanna study in a top medical school!" Yoshika said. "Very well! Then go. Study hard, and learn all there is to know about the newest in western medicine." Her grandmother said. "Okay! I promise!" Yoshika said. "Alright I'll meet you on the ship, I need to fix up my uniform. Gotta impress the new wing." I jokingly say before leaving.

A few days later we boarded the Carrier Amagi. It was similar to the Carrier Akagi so I didn't have trouble navigating the ship. "Damn, I could use a smoke break." I muttered as I traveled throught the halls of the ship. "But I'm still young and inexperienced." I heard Hattori say as I walked past her and Yoshika's shared room. Knocking on the door I got their attention. "Couldn't help but hear that someone's inexperienced in combat." I say. "A few helpful pointers, stick with your wingman, listen to the veteran troops and don't do anything stupid." "Really, that's helpful." Hattori asks. "Best I can give ya, atleast until I see how you fly in combat." I respond. "Now I'm off to get a quick smoke before nightfall." I then leave and continue my walk through the halls. When I reached topside I light up a smoke and leaned against the railing. A few minutes later Yoshika came up aswell. "Shizaku says an officer should dress their rank, is that true on the frontlines.?" Yoshika asked after awhile. "Depends on where you are, most officers say no saluting in the frontlines as it makes them a target to Neuroi snipers, I've had to tell that to some new recruts, but as a Sargent I never really dressed the rank as I never felt comfortable wearing my Sargent stripes on my helmet like others, most ended up dead within days others switched to a normal helmet, but in your case I'd say dress like a civilian as you are currently not in the millitary." I explained before tossing my cigarette over board. "Well." I said stretching alittle. "I'm off to bed, and so should you." I said before walking below deck again with Yoshika not far behind.

The next morning was simple, get up, get dressed, get food for Vadim and me, then walk Vadim. Walking into the Kitchen with Vadim trailing behind me was an unusual sight for everyone else. "Mornin'" I treated the cooks while taking food for myself and Vadim. "Morning sir!" He responded from behind the serving station with a salute. "Drop the formalities, I'm still retired, gonna give the brass a piece of my mind before teaching them what retired means." I said before moving to sit down at a table. Yoshika came to join me shortly treating Vadim first who jumped up onto her lap expecting to be pet. "Mornin' Yoshika, how'd you sleep." I asked. "Fine, you?" She asked back. "Vadim woke me up multiple times with that cold nose of his." I answered. "Got maybe five, six hours of sleep." "You should try something different if he keeps waking you up." Yoshika suggested. "Yea anyways, it's time for your walk Vadim, let's go." I said to Vadim before turning to Yoshika. "See ya around, and make sure to study." I then leave the Mess Hall and exit onto the flight deck.

"Launch!" Yoshika shouted before swabbing the deck. "Sharp turn to port!" "Miyafuji!" A sailor shouted before tossing her a bottle of soda. She caught it and said. "Woohoo, soda! Thanks a lot!" I tossed my smoke overboard again and caught a soda being thrown my way. "Thanks." I respond before downing the whole bottle in one go. Looking up I saw Sargent Hattori standing infront of Yoshika. "Miyafuji..." Hattori said. "Shizuka..." Yoshika responded. "Want some soda?" Hattori then dragged Yoshika and me to her and Yoshika's shared room. "The Navel Officer Guidelines state the following: 'Behave as fit of your rank. Ensigns as ensigns. Lieutenants as lieutenants. Whatever your rank behave as fit for it!' These are military regulations! It's the rules!" Hattori lecturer us. "But..." Yoshika trailed off. "You're my idol; the witches best! (Hey) you're the hero of Fuso! You must behave as a role model for everyone!" Hattori said. "But they're letting us aboard this ship, so we should at least help out. And I'm not a witch anymore, either." Yoshika said. "Neither am I, I'm just a veteran now." I respond. "Sorry. But the rules are absolute! The military operates by following them to the letter! They're there for a reason..." Hattori said before I drown her out. 'I now know how Hartmann feels when Barkhorn lectures her... now I feel like I jinxed my girlfriend.' I thought. **"Yea you did."** Jarvis spoke up with what's sounded like popcorn being popped in the background. 'Is that popcorn?' I asked him. **"Noooo..."** He answered suspiciously. "Do you understand now?" Hattori said bringing me back to the real world. "But then what am I supposed to do?" Yoshika asked. "Study." I respond. "Oh and Hattori, 'No battle plan ever survives first contact with the enemy,' general Helmuth von Moltke, it also applies to ranks, do you think the Neuroi care if You're a Sargent fresh out of training, no, they don't care, they'll kill you anyway." I then stand up, dislodging Vadim and walking out with a 'study hard'.

I was helping Yoshika study by testing her from the book. She Yawned and stretched back before using a red pencil to draw on a map she had hanging above her desk. "We've almost reached the tip of Africa." She said beforethe ship rocked hard enough to knock us over. "Whoa. What did we hit?" I asked as I picked myself off the floor. "An alarm? Is it the Neuroi?!" Yoshika asked. "If it is, we're fucked." I answered.

Myself and Yoshika drench ourselves in water as we near the place of the fire. The sound of the pail hitting the ground gives away our position. "Miyafuji!" Hattori says. "Miyafuji, What are you doing?!" One of the officers ask. "Out of my way!" Yoshika says running through them. "Move it now. Give us five minutes." I said before Yoshika slide under the door. "You mustn't Wing Commander! The blast doors are closing!" Hattori said as she caught my arm. "You think I give a shit, I've walked through hell a dozen times by now what's another stroll." I say as I break away. "Captains orders!" Hattori shouts at me. "I'm not in the Navy!" I shout back before sliding under the door. Crawling through the small hole that was left wasn't easy, I had to wiggle most of the way due to my size. As I slide out the other side a lick of flame struck my check. "Captain, take care of my children..." An senior officer said as he let go of the wheel. "Don't think he'll need to." I said before passing him my soaked tunic. "Keep it on or you'll burn." I then grabbed the wheel and tried turning it. "Why won't it budge." I strained. Then the tang of a pipe striking the wheel brought my attention to Yoshika. "We can do it together!" She said with a fire in her eyes. "Yea. Heave!" I said as we worked together. "It's no use, Miyafuji!" The senior officer strained. "It won't budge an inch!" "We can't give up!" Yoshika responded. Then the wheel turned and the sprinklers started. "Haha! We did it!" I cheered!

A few hours later a clang was heard as a part of the wall fell in to reveal two officers, two enlisted men and Hattori. "They're all right! Miyafuji! Yuuki! Morrison!" They cheered before running in and helping us. "Well I'll be damned, it was a rather nice stroll this time." I said as I walked through the hole in the wall.

Stepping out on deck later we spot Hattori out over by the edge of the flight deck. Walking up Yoshika states. "It's cold out. I thought Africa would be warmer." "Why didn't you follow orders?" Hattori asks and before I could reply Yoshika speaks. "Sorry! But it all worked out in the end, didn't it?" "No! The ship could've sunk! The captains orders hold the greatest authority! You were lucky it worked out! Pure chance! Orders are absolute!" Hattori snaps. "You Japanese with you damn out dated thinking! Orders are never absolute and the feild is always changing! Get use to it or you'll end up dead! Just like all the others I've seen killed because they couldn't think for themselves, even the Major knew when to think for herself!" I shouted back at her. "If you learned anything from this incident then learn this, orders are never absolute, they can and will change with the tide of battle." I then lit a cigarette to cool my nerves. "Excuse me, Wing Commander Morrison, Pilot Officer Miyafuji." Hattori said before turning and walking off. "You'll be dead in a week if you don't learn to think for yourself." I called after her. "Morrison, who are the Japanese?" Yoshika questioned. "Remember how I'm from a different world, well in that one we never had the Neuroi attack, instead we fought each other. It was a bloody war and longer than the one just 20 years earlier, the world was split in two sides, the Allies and the Axis, I'll just tell you the major players for both sides for now." I answered. "For the allies it was the Emilre of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with all their dominions or as they are called here Britannia, France or known here as Gallia, United States of America or known as here as the United States of Liberion and Russia or known as here as Orussia. They were all against the Axis which were made up of Nazi Germany or known as Karlesland here, Italy or known as Romagna here and Japan which is known as Fuso here. The Axis lost in the end and Japan or Fuso which ever you want to call it gets hit with two atomic bombs, the cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki are each levelled by a single bomb. Germany or Karlesland is divided into two which are known as west and east Germany respectably. In the end it only brought on another conflict, one that nearly ended the world, before I ended up here we were at 11:58 on the clock."

"We're arriving in Pas-de-Calais." Yoshika calls as we approach Hattori only for her to run off. "Yoshika, it's not working." I said. "It'll work, it has to." Yoshika responds. Suddenly the sound of engines reach my ears. "Is that who I think it is." I said as I stepped aside for an overly excited witch. "Lynne! Perrine!" Yoshika called getting excited. "Yoshika!" Lynne called back before angling towards Yoshika. "Lynne!" Yoshika called as Lynne came barrelling towards her. Then quite literally swept Yoshika off her feet as she landed with a thud. "I just couldn't wait anymore, so we flew over to greet you!" Lynne explained. "I also couldn't wait to see you again!" Yoshika said before they started laughing. "Alright girls bows not the time to lay down on the job." I say before helping both of them up. "I-Is that flight Sargent Lynnette Bishop?" Hattori said. "They never change. It's only been two months!" Perrine said floating down to the carrier deck. "Welcome aboard Perrine." I greeted her. "And you are-" Hattori stated before cutting herself off. "It's an honor to meet you, Flying Officer Perrine Clostermann! I am Fuso Navy Sargent Hattori Shizuka!" "I've heard of you, Sargent Hattori. You must be tired. Traveling with Miyafuji and Morrison can be rough." Perrine said. "Hey!" I called out. "N-Not at all!" Hattori said before looking back at Yoshika and Lynne as they greeted each other.

Shortly afterwards we were on our way to Perrine's estate. "So you accompanied them all by yourself?" Lynne asked. "My superiors took into account my admiration for her, and my father also recommended me." Hattori explained. "By the way, Miyafuji, How is Squadron Leader Sakamoto doing? Did she mention me at any point?" Perrine asked. "She's still single if that's what your asking." I said from my spot on the bed of the truck. A swift kick came my way but it was easy to dodge. "Sorry, But I never got to see her! The one time I dropped by base, she'd been dispatched on some emergency mission." Yoshika explained taking Perrine's attention away from me. "An emergency mission?" Perrine asked before Yoshika spotted the grapes used to make wine. "They look so yummy!" "Those grapes are used to make wine, so they'd actually be quite sour to the taste. So what do you think? Isn't my Gallia beautiful?" Perrine asked. "Yea, not as pretty as my small garden back in fuso but still nice." I responded. "Yeah, it's really pretty!" Yoshika said. "These lands are all owned by Perrine's family." Lynne explained. "Good work, guys!" Perrine called out to the workers. "A castle!" Yoshika called causing me to look up from what I was doing, which was cleaning my Lee Enfeild. As we entered the gates I looked around to see a rather nice court yard. The house still had some damage to it but other than that it looked nice. "It's still leaps and bounds better than how it was right after the liberation." Perrine explain as she opened the truck's door. "Welcome back, Perrine Lynne!" "Welcome back, lady Perrine!" Some of the workers called out before a group of kids came running up. "Miss Perrine, welcome back! It's time for class!" They called. "I know! We made it just in time, didn't we?" Perrine said. "Oh no, I can't swear now, Darn it!" I said before putting out my cigarette. "Why's that?" Lynne asked. "It's a rule of mine not to swear around young kids." I explained. "Welcome back, milady." A butler greeted Perrine. "Is everything in order?" Perrine asked. "The senators are here to meet you." The butler said. "Could that wait until I'm done with classes?" Perrine asked. "Understood." The butler said. "Well then, class is now in session!" Perrine said. "Okay!" The kids responded. "Lynne, who are these kids?" Yoshika asked. "They're orphans of the Neuroi war. Perrine took them in and provided them with a place to live." Lynne explained. "That's better than what happened in my world." I commented.

When we got to the class room I claimed a corner in the far back to start cleaning my shotgun. Looking up it was nice to see the kids having fun, it was almost like a war was never happening, reminded me of my days as a innocent child. A few minutes after I finished cleaning class was out. Walking out with Lynne, Yoshika and Perrine I looked around again. "You're amazing, Perrine! You can even teach!" Yoshika said. "It's the least you can expect from a high-born lady. I have business to attend to, so can I ask you for a favor?" Perrine says. "Sure, What?" Yoshika agrees. "Could you cook diner with the children before they're completely worn out? The three of you together." She said referring to Hattori instead of me. Everyone but Hattori looked excited. "What's wrong, Hattori?" Perrine asked. "I'll be delighted to help!" Hattori responded. "And what about me?" I asked. "You can call your girlfriend and tell her the news." Perrine said. "Your right I probably should, I haven't gotten the chance to yet. Thanks Perrine, could you direct me to the phone." I said. "Sure find my butler and he'll show you." She said. "Alright." I responded before leaving.

"Excuse me." I said as I entered the dining room. "Yes, What is it that I can help you with sir." The butler spoke. "Could you point me in the direction of the telephone please?" I ask. "Of course, down the hall and on your right." He said. "Thank you." I thanked him before leaving the room.

Walking down the hall I found the phone. Picking it up I dialed the base number and waited for someone to pick up. "Hello? Who's this?" I heard Erica say. "Erica it's me, Stefan, could I speak to Gertrude please?" I ask. "Yea I'll get her." Erica said in her usual cheerful voice. I heard her place the phone down and run off. Soon the sound of foot steps returned and Gertrude answered the phone. "Yes, Stefan what is it?" She asked. "Well I've got some good news and bad news, which do you want to hear first?" I asked as I cracked a smile. "Let's hear the bad news first." She said. "Well I'm being forced out of retirement and am being sent to the front." I said. "And the good news?" Gertrude asked. "I'm being sent to a newly formed wing near Helvetian Medical School where Yoshika has been accepted." I say. "Wait, really?" She asked. "Yeah, so that means I'm gonna be nearby, within a couple hours drive. Maybe we could have a day out and about." I suggest. "That would be nice. A day without waking up Hartmann (Hey!) or dealing with Neuroi." Gertrude said wishfully. "Of course it won't happen right away, maybe in a month or two, as I have to organize this wing made up of completely new recruits." I said. "It smells like supper is almost ready, I should be going. Love you and see you soon." "Yea, love you too." She said before we hung up.

Supper was an interesting matter with everyone except me saying that the miso soup was bad and everything else was good, of course everything else was good, Yoshika and Lynne are fabulous chefs. It took time to help clean the dishes and then came the sleeping arrangements. Of course Yoshika and Lynne ended up sharing a bed and Hattori and Perrine got their own so I took the couch and was sleeping well until someone opened the blinds and let the moon light in. I saw Hattori step out onto the balcany. Stepping out after her I spoke. "If you wanted to get some airit would have been wiser to step outside the room before going out onto a balcany." I said startling her. "Wing Commander Morrison!" She said. "Not so loud you'll wake everyone else up." I shushed her. "Anyway onto another matter, are you in anyway related to the famous ninja Hattori 'the devil' Hanzo?" I asked. "Not that I know of, why do you ask, sir?" She asked back. "Cut out that sir thing, I've never liked it, also makes me a target to any Neuroi snipers, as for why I asked, well you share the same last name so I assumed you were related, guess I was wrong." I said with a small shrug.

"Are you still thinking about what happened over dinner?" Perrine asked breaking the silence and surprising Hattori. "Flying Officer! No... Well, yes! I'm very sorry." Hattori apologized. "Long ago, I too believed that only cooks were meant to cook." Perrine said as she walked up. "Pretty much everyone in my family is a soldier, so..." Hattori explained. "Turns out you were born a witch, so you were brought up with the high standards of soldiers in mind and never found the time to learn how to cook, right?" Perrine asked while I took a swig from a bottle of whiskey I found earlier today. "Yes. There are hardly any witches in our family, so both my father and grandfather expected a lot from me." Hattori answered. "Having grown up in an environment like that, I'm not surprised you're annoyed by Miyafuji and Morrison." Perrine said. "Hey!" I said at the comment but they ignored me. "That's not it! Pilot Officer Miyafuji is the pride of Fuso! She's an outstanding witch who liberated Europe!" Hattori said. "But she doesn't really fit the soldier profile, does she? She can't follow regulations and disregards orders she doesn't fancy. She's a total mess." Perrine spoke and waited for Hattori to respond, only for her to stay silent. "'I hate the war.' That was the first thing she said when joining the 501st, in a room full of people whose homelands has been defiled by the Neuroi. 'What are you doing here then?!' I was pretty angry. But much to our surprise, the 501st got even stronger after she joined. Without her, we probably would've failed to save Gallia." "I..." Hattori trailed off. "You don't get it do you? You should get some sleep. We have to wake up early tomorrow and Morrison's going to be hung over." Perrine said. "Hattori, I guess I never told you where I was before I became a witch, didn't I?" I said. "No, you never mentioned it." She responded. "I never like to but I'll do it to keep you alive after I'm gone. I was a simple soldier at 14 stuck on Hong Kong with the Neuroi closing in, I was among the lucky ones to be evacuated, it was hell, we left that he'll for a worse one, many said that they should have fought on at Hong Kong, but me I didn't care, I wanted to just live, get back home and survive the war. Then early in 1943 I was found out to be a witch when my commanding officer jumped in my foxhole only to be shielded by my shield, I was then recruited by Ursula Hartmann as a test pilot, I can sometimes still feel the pain." I joke. "Then the Major found me and recruited me for the 501st." As soon as I finished Hattori speaks up. "I've been wondering, you haven't started smoking while we were outside and you almost always are smoking, why is that?" "Well it goes back to my time in south east Asia. Often the Neuroi would use the light of a cigarette to find people in the dead of night, so to counter this people stopped smoking at night." I answered and finished off the bottle. "Anyways I'm off to bed." I then head back to bed and sleep comes easily for once.

"We are scheduled to arrive at 1800. Over." Hattori said over the radio. "This is headquarters. Understood. Over." Headquarters responds. "Out." Hattori says ending the transmission. "Rheims is about 200km south east of here." Perrine said pointing at the town. "If you take this route, you should arrive in Dijon by sunset." I chuckled at this. "That's where we're scheduled to stay tonight, right?" Hattori asked. "Yup." I answer before Perrine continues. "Stay clear of the border and don't go east of the highway, I'm looking at you Morrison. The moment you cross the Rhine, the Neuroi will pounce on you. Got it." "Yea, yea." I wave dismissively. "She's been working on it for over a month now!" Perrine said to Yoshika after she received the doctors uniform from Lynne. As we got ready to leave I asked the question on everyone's mind. "So who's driving?" "I am." Hattori said. "Why can't I?" I ask. "Because, you're drunk." Perrine says. "Nah, I'm not anywhere near drunk." I respond. "I just drive differently than you gals because of cultural diffdrenches." "I heard from Hartmann how you are a terrible driver." Yoshika said joining the conversation. "Fine I yeild." I said before sitting in the back. "Here, lunch for you to eat on the way." Lynne said while handing Yoshika a basket. "Thanks!" Yoshika thanked her. "This is St. John's wort from our herb garden. It's good for wounds!" Perrine said handing Yoshika a box. "Thanks Lynne, Perrine!" Yoshika thanked them both. "Off we go, then!" Hattori said before we pulled away. "Lynne! Perrine! See you again!" Yoshika waved goodbye. "See ya around sometime!" I waved aswell. "Yoshika! Morrison! I'll keep in touch!" Lynne shouted at us while waving. "99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer-" I started to sing before they cut me off with a. "NO!"

As we're parked on the side of a dirt road, Yoshika was eating a sandwitch Lynne had packed I was fake sleeping and Hattori was looking at the map. "You should eat something! It's good!" Yoshika said to Hattori. "No, thanks. I'm busy checking the map." Hattori responded. "Use the rank card Yoshika." I said. "Wha... No." she responded after recovering from my sudden lack of silence. "Oh and Hattori." I said before pointing at the map. "We're here." "Thanks." She responded before planing our route. The sound of a car coming up the dirt road caught our attention. It came up the road that connected to the one we we're on and stopped infront of us quickly. "Who's that?" Yoshika asked. "Hey you, soldiers, can I use your radio?" A man asked as he jumped out of the car and ran towards us. "What happened?" Yoshika asked. "There was a landslide. Several people are injured!" He explained. "A landslide?!" Hattori said surprise evedent in her voice. "How horrible!" Yoshika said. "We tried calling for help, but the phones won't connect." As soon as the man said this I turned on the radio and tried to raise headquarters. "This is Wing Commander Morrison to Headquarters, please respond, over!" I said to be greeted with static. "Nothing." I said to them. "It won't connect here either." "I can preform basic first aid! Lead us to the village!" Yoshika said to the man. "Are you a doctor?" The man asked. "You can't pilot Officer! The village is by the border! Perrine said we mustn't go near-" Hattori tried to argue before I stopped her. "Sargent Hattori, I hereby order you to follow that man's car to the village!" "Sir!" She said before I stopped her. "Don't salute at the frontlines Sargent! Just drive!"

As we drove in I could see where the landslide hit. We arrived at the church in the Center of town. Running in I look around to see wounded everywhere. "This is a lot of work." I say. "This way." The man says as Yoshika slips on her doctors uniform that Lynne had given her. We stop by a man who is suffering from a shoulder wound. "It's horrible..." Hattori says. "Wait till you see the stuff I have." I say back. "We must stop the bleeding. The herbs Perrine gave me should work. So this and... Do you have any bandages?" Yoshika asks. "We've used them all." A lady responds, she looks like the village medicine woman. "Any clean sheets or towels, then?" Yoshika asks. "There's nothing left." The woman responds. "Alright, This should do." I say as I pull off my ranks, badges and pins before ripping my tunic into straight bandages. "Here Yoshika, I'll get some more." I said before leavening her. It took some time to help everyone but that evening we had finished up. "They're all out of danger now thanks to you." The man thanked us. "You've saved us." The woman said. "It's all in a days work, anyway we should check in with command, it's past multiple check in times." I say before ducking out dragging Yoshika along with me. "The suns already set!" Yoshika said looking up at the sun. "We're you able to get in contact with base." I ask Hattori. "No luck. The interference's so strong I couldn't reach St. Trond, Dijon or Sedan. The radio's usless." Hattori says. "DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!" I shout as I kick the tire. "We've been dragged into this with little ammo and no anti-tank weapons. We have to fall back now or we'll be cut off completely." I said as I went around to grab my Lee Enfeild. "What's wrong." Yoshika asks. "Well it's about to happen." I say as I sling my rifle up onto my shoulder. "What's it?" Hattori asks. "The battle of the Buldge..." I trail off. The man and woman walked up just after I said this and spoke. "The phone still isn't working." The man said. "It's already quite late. Why don't you stay here for the night?" The woman suggested. "With pleasure! Shizuka, let's take them up on their offer!" Yoshika said before I could decline. "Okay. But I still have to report today's actions." Hattori said. "Can't it wait until tomorrow?" Yoshika asked. "Reports are part of our duty! You go on ahead, Pilot Officer." Hattori said. As soon as the villagers left I turned to Hattori. "You aren't going to get in contact with command tonight, try again tomorrow, go get some sleep." I said to her.

Once I stepped inside the small house, Yoshika grabbed me by my collar and pulled me into her and Hattori. "Explain the Battle of the Buldge to us." Yoshika demanded. "I don't remember everything off the top of my head so I'll give you a quick run down." I said before standing up straight causing Yoshika to lose her grip on me. "It was the last German offensive of World War Two, it was meant to recreate the offensive against the French they'd used just 4 years earlier. It encircled a paratrooper Division known as the 101st in the town of Bastogne and the siege lasted from the 21st of December to the 26th when Patton's army group finally broke through. Of course the battle would last until early 1945 with many deaths on both sides, it was a complete surprise attack for the Americans as the area had been quiet for a long time so they put new units and units that had been in heavy fighting there, when the attack happen General Bradly said and I quote 'it's just a spoiling attack' he was dead wrong. The Germans had everything planned out and would have won the battle if they could have taken Bastonge." I said using my old knowledge to explain it. "Who are the Germans?" Hattori asked. "That's another question so I'll do it simply. In this world of its called Karlesland, so the Karleslanders in my world are called Germans and they were part of the Axis during both world wars." I said. "What do you mean by 'in my world'?" Hattori asks. "I guess Yoshika didn't tell you." I said. "Tell me what?" She says as she grabs my collar and pulls my face down so I'm face to face with her. "Well that im from nearly 70 years in the future in a world where the Neuroi never existed and this was an anime." I explain quickly. "What about the Neuroi core in you?" Yoshika asks. "Yoshika, a man's gotta have his secrets." I say looking over to her. "What Neuroi core!" Hattori snaps. "I've got a Neuroi core embedded in my body, to remove it Now would mean killing me, and I'd rather not be dead right about now." I say pulling away from her and throwing my hands up in a 'I surrender' motion to stop her from attacking me. It didn't work well as Hattori slapped me. "You need to have a better form, I've been slapped harder by weaker people." I say as I stretch my jaw to see if it's broken. "I'm going to bed!" Hattori snaps at me.

Driving out of the canyon Yoshika asks. "Breakfast was delicious, wasn't it?" "Yes." Hattori answers. "Does the radio work?" Yoshika asks me. "No, still nothing." I said as I flipped between stations trying to find a signal. "We'll be in Helvetia tonight, right?" Yoshika asks. "Yes." Hattori says. "Probably not." I say. "Then you'll be going home?" Yoshika asks. "No, I've been assigned to a post near the school." Hattori says. "So I'm stuck with you." I say as I switch channels for the hundredth time. "Yes." Hattori answers. "That's kinda glum." Yoshika says. I flip another two channels before an explosion reaches my ears. Out of habit I grab my rifle and look around for the dust cloud. It was about a kilometre out of town and still rising. "That's-" Hattori starts to say but Yoshika cuts her off. "A Neuroi!" "It's jamming the signal. We have to fight it here or else it'll envelope part of the allied armies." I said readying my rifle. "You two get out of here, I'll hold it off." I said. "No, we stick together." Yoshika said before Hattori turned the Jeep around and drove us into town. Stopping suddenly, Yoshika scrambles out and Hattori goes for her striker. I hop out and run for the edge of the village loading my magic infused rounds for this battle. I only have about 40 magic rounds left and 60 normal rounds. Looking up I see Hattori celebrating her first kill. "Don't get cocky, keep a level head!" I shout to her. She scores a good few more before she gets cocky and she gets distracted. I am in turn distracted by her doing something stupid and am shot at. "Damn it." I shot back scoring a quick kill. I hear her get knocked out of the sky so I run for her. I fire off a round at the Neuroi only for it to have little effect. "Can you stand? We need to get to the shel-" Yoshika was saying before an explosion of dirt revealed to Neuroi nest. "For fucks sake!" I shout pissed at our situation. "It's headed towards the air shelter! We must lure it away from the village!" Yoshika says before noticing the still running Jeep. "I'll grab the 20 mil you get the Jeep going." I tell her before you leave in a hurry. Grasping the gun I lift it but it weighs a good amount meaning I'm unarmed while carrying this gun. Jumping into the rear of the Jeep I look for the Neuroi as I can gain its attention with the 20mm and finish it with my magic rounds. Yoshika points the Jeep right at the Neuroi and I open up, spraying it with lead. "We're here!" Yoshika shouts as I shot. "It noticed us!" Yoshika said as I stopped shooting. She spins us around rapidly, advoid it a laser shot and making the Neuroi follow us. As we drive along we get showered with bits of dirt and rock as the laser beams miss. One shot hits and knocks me into the seat beside Yoshika and knocks off the trailer. Yoshika's head bounces off the wheel giving her a nose bleed which she whips away. She swerved to the left dodging another beam that was headed right for us. We cross a small bridge which the Neuroi destroys and stop as soon as we realize it has stopped shooting at us. Looking back I see it drop back underground. "I think we lost it." I said. "Thank goodness." Yoshika said.

Then a flock of crows took to the sky behind us. Whirling around we see the Neuroi rise from the earth. It opened up showing us its core but also showing us how it could attack us. Yoshika jumped into the drivers seat and drove straight at it. I watched as it fired a laser at the Jeep. Grabbing Yoshika and covering her as we rolled down the steep hillside. I could feel the bumps and bruises forming. The Jeep after being hit flew up and smashed about 1/3 of the way up the Neuroi, doing some damage. Standing up I saw Yoshika struggling to lift the canon so I moved to cover her with a few magic rounds. I fire off two before Yoshika opens up Rambo style hip firing a canon, she lets out a battle cry which is more of a long shout than a battle cry but a battle cry none the less. One shot manages to hit and destroy the core but it got two good laser shots off beside Yoshika and I. It threw Yoshika about ten meters from me and she bounced after hitting the ground. I slammed into the ground and I could feel some ribs break, I then bounced and slammed down again driving one rib into my left lung. I cough up blood from this. Another bounce and I'm slammed into a tree, stopping me. The white Neuroi crystals land around me, a thud is heard as I look over to Yoshika and see Hattori trying to get her to wake up. "Pilot Officer!" She's says. "Wake up, Pilot Officer!" She then noticed the blood leaking from Yoshika, it's a bad gash on the side. "Shizuka?" Yoshika asks weakly. "How's the Neuroi? The village?" "The village's safe!" Hattori says, tears welling up in her eyes. "You saved everyone!" "I see... That's good." Yoshika says before blacking out. "Pilot Officer! Pilot Officer Miyafuji!" Hattori says before the shaking of the ground draws her attention. 'Jarvis, how long do I have?' I ask my Neuroi core. **"About 30 minutes at the rate you're losing blood. Worse case is you die, best case is another week long coma."** Jarvis answers. 'Well, fuck.' I think as I lay there beneath a tree bleeding out. "Sargent Hattori." I call out weakly. "Wing Commander!" She calls back walking up towards me. "Take Yoshika, this letter and run far away from here." I say weakly. Whatever she was going to say was lost in the explsion of earth as a mobile Neuroi nearby rose out of the ground. It launched what looked like V1 flying bombs to defend itself. "So many..." Hattori said in shock. She then placed a radio in my ear and ran back to Yoshika to do the same. "This is Hattori Shizuka. We're near Saint-Hubert. We were attacked by the Neuroi and Pilot Officer Miyafuji And Wing Commander Morrison suffered severe injuries. I request immediate assistance. I repeat, this is Hattori Shizuka." She says only for us to get static. "Why? Why won't it work?" "You need to fly above the Neuroi. I'll cover you from here." I say as I lift my battered and broken body up and lean it against the tree. Reaching out I grab my rifle and lift it up. "Go, fly Hattori, fly." I say as Hattori lifts off. As Hattori climbs higher the Neuroi start to go after her. I squeeze the trigger and watch as five rockets go down in an explosion. "Someone answer, please! I'm Hattori Shizuka, please respond! Please! Someone respond! Save Pilot Officer Miyafuji And Wing Commander Morrison!" I hear Hattori shout over the radio as I rack the bolt back before soaking it home and lifting my rifle again, another shot and another six go down. "Miyafuji, come in! Answer Miyafuji! Are you okay, Miyafuji?!" I hear come over the radio. "Heh." I mutter as I lean back against the tree unable to help anymore, I feel my blood seaping like sap from my body, I can taste my blood at the back of my throat. A series of coughs rack my body, looking at my hand as I pulled it away all I saw was blood. 'Jarvis, we're not gonna make it.' I say to him. **"Yup, it's our last fight and we're drowning in our own blood."** Jarvis responds. "Are you all right, Miyafuji?! Yoshika, respond! Wait for us, Miyafuji, Morrison! Yoshika, Morrison, we're coming!" I heard over the radio before my body slumps forwards as another series of coughs rack my body. "Pilot Officer Miyafuji, Wing Commander Morrison, didn't you hear that?" Hattori asks. "Yeah, *cough* I did, *cough* I probably *cough* won't live long *cough* enough for them to save me though. *cough*" I respond. "Helps on the way!" Hattori says. "Where are you, Miyafuji, Morrison?!" Comes over the radio. 'Jarvis, let's go out fighting.' I say. **"Yes let's."** He responds as we pull back the bolt before slamming it home again, lifting the rifle once again we fire, pull back the bolt and slam it closed again and fire back up into the air, we do so two more times before we run out of ammunition. Looking over to Yoshika I see her trying to stand. "I must go!" Yoshika shouts before her magic comes back. "I'm going to join you back in the skies Yoshika." I say as I wobbly stand using my rifle like a crutch. "If I'm gonna die, it'll be in the sky!" I then feel the familiar rush of power as my magic capabilities return with a boost. Looking up I watch as mine and Yoshika's magic combine and fly upwards destroying any Neuroi it touches excluding the nest. "Welcome back to killing Neuroi for a living Jarvis." I say outloud. **"Yeah, glad to be alive."** Jarvis responds. **"Though problem, our magic is attracting unwanted attention."** He pointed out as I looked up to see more of the Neuroi rockets appear. Looking around I realized that I was surrounded by Neuroi rockets all getting ready to fire. "Shit." I muttered only to watch them all be destroyed before I could react. "Who...?" I said. Looking out to the Rhine river I see the Battleship Yamato and hear the crackle of the Major. "I'll do whatever it takes to save my protégée! Anything!" Major say over the radio. "Heh, that's the major for ya." I say as I whip the blood dripping from my mouth on my pant leg. "Guess it's time to show them how a Canadian fights." I watch as the girls Usenet their magic to destroy Neuroi en masse. Looking upwards I see the major drop a package for both me and Yoshika. Mine lands infront of me and opens to real rap my beloved striker and twin Vickers K machine guns. "Lets lock and load." I say as I take off. Climbing rapidly I shoot down enough Neuroi I lost count. Looking over at Yoshika I see her and Lynne hugging and everyone gathering around them. Looking around I see the Neuroi massing to attack them. I roll into their group of rockets and start fireing at random. I burn throught two drum mags within the bunch before braiding off and having them chase me, still bleeding heavily a smirk forms on my face. Flipping around I dive straight into the gaggle and burst out the other side just in time to see Gertrude offer Yoshika one of her MG42's.

Then a shot strikes my side sending me spiraling downwards away from the rest of the witches. "Damn it! I'm going down fighting with everything left!" I shout as I empty the last of my rifle rounds into the mass of Neuroi. Reversing my flight I fly straight up weilding my rifle like a club. But the sudden sound of earth tearing apart draws my attention back to the nest. "Holy shit! It looks like a fucking sci-fi space ship." I say as the nest leaves the ground showing off how big it is. "All units! Formation Illius! Target: the Neuroi carrier in front of us!" Commander said over the radio. "Roger!" I answered as I flew at it while switching my rifle for my Webley. Flying in from behind instead of with the rest of the girls I start firing as soon as I'm amongst them. Looking up Gertrude whizzes past me as I fire my revolver at a Neuroi. "Stefan!" She cheers as she hugs me causing some blood to leak out of my mouth and spill from the corner of my mouth. "Not so hard. I'm still injured badly, got what 15 minutes left." I say as Abe lets go of me to get a better look. "When we get back to base you're shaving that beard." She says. "Nows not the time for that, nows the time to kill a huge fucking Neuroi!" I shout as I dive down and switch to my rifle using it like a club to bash the surface of the Neuroi. The thunderous guns of the Yamato caused me to break away as its shells scored a direct hit, revealing the core. "The core's visible! All units, focus fire!" Commander orders as we fly in a V formation towards the Neuroi. Which all fire lasers which we bloke. "Yoshika!" Lynne calls out as Yoshika charges ahead. "All units, activate your shields! Follow Miyafuji!" Commander orders as I fall back to Major's plane circling above. "No way!" Hattori shouts in surprise as we watch them plow through the laser blasts. "Look carefully. That's the kind of witch you should strive to become!" Major says as they plow headlong into the Neuroi rockets then throught the Neuroi and it's core. We watched as the Neuroi exploded into millians of pieces. I stay back abit as everyone celebrates. Finally I speak up. "Yoshika, I could use some help here." Then another series of devastating coughs cause me to losses control of how I'm flying and I plumit towards the ground. "Gotcha." Gertrude says as she catches my body mid air before I could be skewered on a tree. "Thanks." I say before more coughing and blood spills out from me. I'm barely conscious as Yoshika heals me.

(Authors notes: this is not done yet, but it will be less frequently updated and will finish soon.)


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 17

"Uh, Damn that hurts like hell." I mutter as I come to in a hospital bed. "Serves you right for not seeking medical attention sooner." Gertrude said as she appeared in my feild of vision. "You nearly killed yourself." "Not the first time I've done that, and won't be the last." I say before trying to sit up. "Don't try to move, Yoshika could only do so much." Gertrude said as she laid me back down. "So, anything new happen while I was out?" I asked. "Yes, the Liberion 101st airborne was trapped in Bastonge and are currently surrounded by the Neuroi. Patton's army group is heading north to end the siege but it'll take time." She answered. "I'm calling it's going to end on the 26th of December." I said. "No ones betting on that." Gertrude said before Erica chimed in. "I bet they'll be cut off until the 10th of January." "20 bucks. And if I win you get up on time everyday for the rest of this war." I said. "And if I win, you and Trude have to sit in the sauna together for three hours." Erica said. "Hey, Hartmann I never agreed to-" Gertrude was saying until I cut her off. "Deal, shake on it." We shook and Gertrude was pissed, she clearly knew that I was going to win but was upset that I would agree to such a deal. "Stefan you have some explaining to do!" She rages before Commander stepped in. "Well Morrison, the brass was pleased that you went into combat without magic but they want you to not die. So they reassigned you again, here's your papers." She said. "Thanks." I responded taking the folder and opening it. "Well I rather like this posting, it seems I will be joining the 501st again and be working as the second in command with increased pay." Looking up at Gertrude I say. "How about a lovely dinner in Paris as a date?" "If you're paying." She responds. "Of course I'll pay, it's part of the experience. Though we aren't going to do much shopping there." I tease. "We'll leave you to love birds to plan out your date." Commander said before dragging Erica out of the hospital wing. "Now that their gone, we can chat." Gertrude said. "Alright sit down please." I said patting part of the bed. "You need to care more about your life, you aren't alone anymore, you have me, Yoshika and the rest of the 501st." Gertrude said after taking a seat. "I'll live for awhile longer, it's not like I'm going to die anytime soon." I say while pulling her into a hug.

I was realeased a few days later. Stepping out I spotted Gertrude waiting with Erica. "It's the 22nd and the siege is almost finished." Erica said. "So I basically can say I win on this bet." I respond. "Well, we still have to settle out sleeping arrangements and finish the night patrol schedule." Gertrude said. "Yea I'll get right on that, please lead the way to wherever I'll be doing my work." I responded. "Right be first everyone wants to speak with you." Erica said before Gertrude started to pull me off with the help of Erica. "Where are we going?" I ask. "You'll see." Erica said. "It was Miyafuji's idea." "I feel like it's a bath." I deadpanned. "How'd you guess?" Gertrude asked. "It's something she'd do." I answer while letting them drag me. "It will be nice to take a bath after so long in a medical cot." "Yeah, and the perfect opertunity to shave your bread again." Gertrude said. "Wait. WHA-!" I started before Erica shoved a cloth in my mouth cutting me off. "Don't complain. It'll only get worse." Erica said while duck taping it. "Alright lets do this Hartmann." Gertrude said before they dragged me into the bath change room before I could close my eyes. I struggled to get away before they dragged me into the bath. I felt rope get roped around my body and with a heavy they tossed me into a chair and tied me up. I quickly closed my eyes allowing my aura sense to take over my vision. "Trude, now!" Erica said as I felt her untie me. Making a break for the hall I didn't get far before Gertrude tackled me to the floor. "You're coming in whether you like it or not." She said as she started to undress me. Once she was done I wrapped a towel around my waist quickly. Finally they took the cloth out of my mouth. "I hate you two." I said once they removed it. "No, you love me enough to not struggle much." Gertrude said as she lead me to the bath. "Stefan, it's good to see that you're alright." Yoshika said as she ran up. "Afternoon Yoshika, could you help me out abit?" I asked. "Sure. What is it you need?" She asked. "I need you to distract everyone once I finish my quick bath. I got work to do." "No I'll decline helping you out. You're going to relax now and work later. Even Commander Minna is here." Yoshika said excitedly as she dragged me into the bath.

After the bath I escaped Gertrude who was hunting me down and spent the time doing work. I was still seated at my desk when I looked up at the clock to check the time. "It's..." I said reading the clock. "5:43 in the morning!" I nearly fell out of my chair. With a sigh I stood up and stepped out of my small office to nearly bump into Sanya. "Oh, sorry Sanya. Didn't see you there." I said as Sanya walked past. "Must be sleep walking." I then make my way to the hanger for a quick smoke before everyone else wakes up. Leaning against the wall of the hanger I begin relaxing. 'Are there any others like me out there?' I ponder. **"DUCK!"** Jarvis breaks through my train of thought. I duck down missing being decapitated by a Neuroi blade by a hairs length. The other blade comes down towards me and I roll out of the way. 'Damn, why didn't Sanya pick up on this one, or even you Jarvis.' **"It must have come in under the radar."** Jarvis explained. Popping up I lash out with a left hook and send the Neuroi stumbling back. 'Damn that armour is hard' I commented to Jarvis. **"That's the point. It's for protection."** Jarvis says before the Neuroi comes back at me with a stab towards my head. I jump backwards and slip on something. When I hit the ground I realize it was one of the guards who was lying there dead. The Neuroi lunges at me and cuts me across the chest and slash's my left arm, just below the shoulder. Kicking his off before rolling over his body, my hand brushed something, grabbing it I spot it's his rifle, a model 1895 Orussian lever action. Standing quickly I jab the rifle in the face of the Neuroi and pull the trigger. *click* He never loaded his rifle. **"Now die hybrid!"** The Neuroi screeched at me before slashing at me with its right arm. Using the rifle to block the attack I kicked it back and grabbed a clip off the body, the Neuroi lunged again but a swift smack with the butt of the rifle sent it realling again. Quickly loading the rifle, I shove it in the face of the Neuroi again. "No, you." I state before pulling the trigger. The bang woke the rest of the base who came out shortly afterwards in varying states of dress. "What happened?!" Commander Minna demanded. "A humanoid Neuroi attacked me as I stepped outside for a smoke break." I explained. "It got a guard and cut me up pretty well." I then point to the guard's body. "He's in the bush's there." "Stefan You nearly got yourself killed again." Gertrude said. "Actually I wasn't actively trying to kill myself, I was ambushed while taking a smoke break." I say as I walk past them. "Now I'll head to the sick bay and get patched up. You can deal with the body, right?" I step back into the hanger and bump into Yoshika and Lynne. "Oof... You girls alright?" I asked as I steadied them. "Stefan you're injured!" Yoshika shouted in surprise. "Yea, Neuroi ambushed me outside the hanger." I explained. "So what was the gunshot? It didn't sound like your Enfield." Lynne asked. "It was the guards gun. Slipped on his body before finding his gun." I explain as Yoshika activates her magic. "The man forgot to load his rifle, so I had to fight off the Neuroi until I could load it and kill it." I explain as Yoshika finishes healing me. "Thanks Yoshika, gotta go, I've got some paperwork to do." I then leave the hanger.

As I was finishing the last bit of paperwork Gertrude practally kicked in the door. "Stefan." Her tone made it sound like she wasn't happy with me. "Why didn't you come to bed last night?" "Honestly, I got caught up in work and didn't look up at the clock until about 5:43 in the morning." I explained while signing the last bit of paperwork. Stretching I give off a loud yawn and stand. "I could go for a quick nap." I say. "Well I'll lead you to your room." Gertrude said. "Alright." I answer following her from my office. Walking past Commander Minna's office I stop. "Gertrude I'm just going to drop off this paperwork then I'll be right out." I explain before ducking in and placing my work on the pile of finished work. "Alright, please continue." I say before we set off again. Gertrude lead me around multiple hallways, I quickly got lost though I didn't mind much as I was half asleep. Gertrude then opened a door and allowed me to enter first. The first thing that I spotted was Erica with a razor. Now this didn't alarm me right away until I heard the click from the lock. My eyes widened at the sudden realization of what's to come. "NOO!" I shouted as I made a break for the window only for Gertrude to tackle me. "We have to tame that beard of yours, Stefan. Hold still, will ya." She said as I struggled to escape from her. I managed to wiggle one arm free which I was using to slowly make my way away from Erica who was busy getting something ready. Gertrude suddenly let go of me so I booked it for the window only for her to grab my collar and toss me into a barbers chair, Erica then tied my hands and feet to the chair. "Why must you trim my beard?" I begged. "Because. It's against regulations." Gertrude said. Figures she would find something in the rule book to justify it. They took their time slowly trimming my beard and making sure they didn't slip and cut me, which I was thankful for as if they slipped when trimming my neck they could have killed me. They released me after they finished. "Done." Erica chimed happily. "Erica why did you help her?" I questioned. "Because." She answers me. "That's not an answer." I protest only for Gertrude to pull me out of the chair. "Now, you need to sleep as you have been awake for 36 hours straight, and everyone else is going to bed now." She explained before letting me go. "Now since you still don't know where you're sleeping I'll show you." "Better not be another ambush." I said as we left.

Gertrude opened the door and I could immediately tell who's side of the room was whose as the wooden fence that separated the room in two gave it away, also the clothing tossed everywhere on Erica's side. "So I'm sharing a room with Erica?" I asked. "Not only Hartmann." Gertrude said before stepping inside. "Myself, aswell." "Well now I don't mind it as much." I said also stepping in, followed closely by Erica, who went to her side and fell face first into her bed.

Waking the next morning was pleasant. I woke to Gertrude sleeping soundly in my arms so I stayed still hoping she wouldn't wake up right away. No such luck as Vadim had chosen that moment to stick his cold nose under the covers and touched the arch of her foot, waking her up. "I'll get him something to eat, you can get back to sleep." I said as I got out of bed and dressed.

Stepping into the kitchen, I looked around for something to cook up. "Lots of potatoes." I deadpanned. "Morrison what are you doing up?" Major Heidemarie. "Ah, Heidemarie, Sorry didn't see you there." I said looking over my shoulder. "I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep and then Vadim woke Gertrude up so I got up to feed him." Vadim took this opportunity to introduce himself by jumping out of the kitchen and towards Heidemarie. "This Vadim?" She asked as the Now fully grown fox sat at her feet. "Yea, that's him. Don't get to attached or he'll milk you for all the food on your plate. Happened to Erica and Gertrude a couple times." I said while fishing out a small amount of sausage. Stepping back out of the kitchen I toss a small portion of the sausage to Vadim before asking. "So how's the night patrol schedule working for you?" "Rather well." She answers. "No problems, I hope." I say while brewing a pot of coffee. "What any?" "No problems, and no thank you." She politely refused. "If anything happens my door is always open." I say. "On another note, how are you getting along with the other witches aside from Sanya and Eila?" I ask. "We don't interact much." She explained. "You should try to open up abit. It's not gonna kill you." I joked. "I just don't know how." She answered. "Let's see. The best way is to ask them questions and have them ask you questions, or if you're like Gertrude nearly get yourself killed in combat only for Yoshika to rescue you." I say remembering how Gertrude nearly killed herself over her sister being in a coma. "Did that really happen?" Heidemarie asked. "Yea, Gertrude used to be rather hosttile towards Yoshika." I said before Gertrude steps in. "Was not." "Yea you were. She was worried you hated her for no reason." I said. "Atleast I didn't blow smoke in the face of a fellow witch." She shot back. "You were harassing me so I used it o make you back off. And I have never struck you have I?" I said throwing a jab at how many times she's struck me. "Most of those times you deserved it." She shot back. "Ha, more like you were just upset and was taking it out on me." I say passing her a cup of coffee. "Anyway, try to open up to someone new, best bet is Yoshika."

The ringing from the phone caught all of our attention. "I'll get it." I say stepping up to the phone before answering. "Hello, you've reached the 501st joint fighter wing. What is it that you need?" "New set of orders from high command. It's a simple resupply mission, simply drop off 6 bags of medical supplies and 8 bags of ammunition to the men besieged in the wwestern sector of Bastogne." A voice said. "Wing Commander Minna should have the written orders by now." "Alright, What's the date of this operation?" I ask. "Tonight, no later and no earlier as the Neuroi will attack you while your landing and taking off in daylight and the troops need resupply soon." The voice explained. "Got it. Will do." I said before they hung up. "Gertrude. Up for alittle night flying?"

The plan was simple, in and out. Two hours tops of time. Standing outside the briefing room I could hear the girls all wondering what was the reason behind this. Looking over at commander I spoke up. "Ladies first." She just walked in and I followed suite. The instant we reached the front all chatting stopped. "Recentally we received orders for a resupply mission, it was given to us as we are the best equiped to deal with this situation." Commander announced. "Morrison, if you would." "Okay, the mission is simple. We have to deliver 6 bags of medical supplies and 8 bags of ammunition to the western section of the Bastogne defense. It will be at night due to the dangers of flying in there during the day. Four witches will escort another four who will be delivering the supplies, the reason we can't just have all the witches carry the bags is because the Neuroi are likely to ambush us in between here and Bastogne." I explained. "Now any questions on the mission plan?... None good. The witches going are Myself, Gertrude, Erica, Sanya, Eila, Yoshika, Lynne and Hattori. Hattori since you are here until further orders you might aswell get some experience in combat, not that I'm expecting us to be attacked. Now any questions?" "Yes. Why are me and Lynne going?" Yoshika asked. Yoshika, your healing magic will allow the new supplies to last longer and put more men back in the fight sooner. As for Lynne, she can help in any way as you two work well together. Sanya and Eila will be acting as your guards and Gertrude and Erica will act as Hattori's and mine." I answered. "Now we leave at 2200 hours so rest up and be ready to fly." I step back allowing Commander to take control. "Everyone else you're on standby. Dismissed!" Commander ordered before walking out. Once she left Yoshika and Lynne came to ask questions. "How big are the bags?" Lynne asked. "Enough to put a person inside." I answered. "You two will only be carrying one each so don't worry to much. Also since you two will be helping out in the hospital myself and Hattori will make two more trips before we come to pick you up, don't worry about much, you have Sanya and Eila to protect you while you do your job. Listen to the soldiers when it comes to your safety, they have more experience on the frontlines than you do." I then noticed Sanya and Eila coming to join us. "Morrison, why are we needed to guard Yoshika and Lynne?" Eila asks. "They'll have their hands full carrying bags and helping the wounded so they won't be able to keep an eye out for Neuroi and Sanya's magic radar will help us out when it comes to flying low at night." I answer. "Meet me in the hanger at 2130 hours and we'll get ready to depart." I then stepped around them and left the room.

At around 2100 I started getting ready for a late night mission, using boot polish to cover my face and wearing a pair of long underwear. "Gertrude, Erica, I suggest you wear long underwear and blacken your faces, otherwise we could be spotted as we are flying low." I said while checking my rifle. "Uh... nether of us have long underwear." Gertrude said nervously. "I'll lend you a pair then." I said as I tossed them both a pair. "Now I'm off to tell the others the same thing I told you." I said before stepping out the door. Walking down the hallway I bumped into Yoshika, Lynne and Hattori who were all wearing warm cloths but hadn't blackened their faces. "I was about to come tell you girls to blacken your faces as we are flying rather low and could be spotted." I explained. "Right away sir." Hattori said before nearly saluting me. "Hattori. Don't salute me or any officer on the front." I warned her before slipping past them. Approaching the door to Eila's and Sanya's room I figured Eila saw me coming as she stepped out to greet me. "Morrison what do you need? And why is there polish on your face?" "Well I came to inform you and Sanya to blacken your faces and wear something to cover your hair as we're flying low to come in undetected." I explain. "Oh. Alright, thanks for the heads up." She said before ducking back into her room. I then made my way to the hanger.

Glancing at my watch I saw it was 2155 hours and Yoshika and Lynne had yet to arrive. "Where are they?" Gertrude asked eager to get going. "Gertrude, go tell everyone to warm up their engines. We leave in five, with or without them." I said while looking at my watch again. 2156 hours. I then heard running, looking up I spot Yoshika and Lynne running down the hallway. "You two were almost left behind." I said as they reached me. "Hope your ready to fly." "Roger." They said before making their way to their strikers.

"Stefan, what's medicine like in the future?" Yoshika asked breaking the silence of our flight. "Well I'm not a medical expert but some major diseases are gone completely, such as polio, smallpox, yellow fever, and many more." I explain. "The future sounds nice." Sanya speaks up. "Heh some aspects are but there are many people that believe Communism is a valid form of gouvernment. Can you believe that, communism working, that's about as real as creationism." I comment. "Anyway, Yoshika, Lynne, Sanya, Eila, this is where we leave you." I then angle downwards to land in the open road. "Sir." A private said as soon as I landed. "We're here to drop off the doctor's and medical supplies that was requested." I said handing him the two bags I had. "But Sir, we never requested a doctor." He said. "Well you got Yoshika and Lynne here already so best to set them to work on the wounded, they really work miracles." I said before turning to Hattori, Gertrude and Erica. "We now have to make two more trips to the western sector, keep your heads down and on a swivel. Rather not be carrying any of you out in a body bag." I joke. "Not very tasteful Stefan." Gertrude says. "Hey, What can I say, I've got a dark sense of humour." I shrug. "Anyway enough dilidaddling. We have two more flights tonight, and I for one would rather not be anywhere near Neuroi airspace when the sun comes up." I said before the four of us took off.

The first flight was uneventful thankfully while the second one. "I'm tired." Erica whines as we make our landing in the open feild by the tree line. "Keep quiet!" I whisper to her. The crunch of snow signals to us something is approaching. "Flash." Someone whisper shouts from the tree line. "Thunder." I respond. "Thank god its you guys." A Karlesland corporal said. "Yea, so far so good, hope it stays that way." I say while more men reveal themselves and begin to take the bags. "Incoming!" Someone shouts as laser beams rain down on us from above, smashing into the trees and raining down splinters onto everyone. I grabbed the collars of Erica and Gertrude before rolling into a small slit trench, covering them under my body.I let out a hiss of pain as a splinter grazes the right side of my neck. Another embeds itself in my calf and the final one ends up in my lower back missing my spine and everything major. Standing up I brush myself of, knocking off the snow and dirt that had fallen on me in the small artillery barrage. "Stefan you've been hit!" Gertrude panics. "I'm fine, it's not that bad." I say only knowing of the graze on my neck. "Nothing to fret about." "Morrison, you've been hit three times." Hattori says as she goes to peak over the edge of the trench. I push her back down before she could be seen. "Don't ever look over the edge of a trench, ever." I tell her before turning to the corporal in the trench with us. "Your helmet please." I hold out my hand to receive his helmet. Setting it on the end of my rifle I slowly show it above the trench lip. Nothing happens so I slowly raise my head up underneath the rifle, making it look like someone's head above mine. Nothing I could see out there. "Girls, let's walk back to the church, pick up our friend so and head back to base before the sun is up." I order while picking up my striker.

The crunching of snow was all I had been hearing for the last few minutes. No one talked or even whispered. Suddenly my legs gave out from the blood that was spilling from my wounds. "Stefan!" Gertrude whisper shouted while catching me before I could hit the ground. "I thought I had a few more minutes before I started to suffer from blood loss." I muttered. "Guess I lost that half a litre." "Hattori, Hartmann get back to the church and retrieve Miyafuji." Gertrude ordered. Erica and Hattori ran off leaving us alone. Gertrude set me against a nearby tree to ease the stress of carrying me. I fumble my pack of cigarettes and lighter so Gertrude helps me out by lighting a cigarette for me. "Heh, I've lost so much blood I can't even light my own smoke." I joke. "You're joking?! At a time like this!" Gertrude shouts. "Well how else am I supposed to look back at this and laugh." I respond. "I've had a good life so far, and will likely continue." "You could die here!" Gertrude continued. "Negative waves, Gertrude, negative waves." I respond. "Anyway, when will Chris be visiting next? She is always welcome you know." "You really don't think you're going to die?" Gertrude asks. "Well how else am I supposed to move forwards in life?" I ask before a Jeep with stretchers pulled up. "Trude, Stefan, we got you two a ride!" Erica excitedly called from the back. "Well then come help me on, as you can see I'm not gonna be able to walk there." I joke with her. "Sure!" She answers and jumps off to help me. Lifting my arms up to help Gertrude and Erica pull me up. With a heave the managed to get me standing. "Now comes the difficult part." I state as we slowly make our way to the Jeep. "Oof. You could have been a bit gentler." I said after they tossed me onto one of the stretchers. "Nope!" Erica chimed before they both hoped on the Jeep and Hattori drove us to the church.

"Stefan what happened?" Yoshika asked as she stood over me. "Well the Neuroi fires a couple shots into the trees, so I grabbed Gertrude and Erica and rolled them into a trench and shielded them. I was then struck a couple times and now I'm here." I explained. "A patch up would be nice as I would believe Commander would want us back before sunrise." "If we are stuck here until sunrise, what happens?" Lynne asks. "Well we stay the day and leave the next night." I answered her while I felt Yoshika use her magic to heal the wounds I had. "Thanks." I said once she was done with me. "We have another two hours or so before we need to leave. If you want to stay behind for an hour then go ahead." "We've finished all of them already. You were the last one." Lynne explained while helping me off the stretcher. With the help of Lynne I managed to walk relatively well, though I was going to need a cane for a couple weeks before my body fully healed. "Sir, do you know when the relief force will make it here?" A private questioned me as I jumped into my striker. "Sorry, I'm not allowed access to such information." I apologized to him. "But I'd say based on how well they are doing, expect them sooner rather than later." Looking over to the seven witches with me I start to issue orders. "Keep low to the tree tops and don't, under any circumstances speak outloud unless we are found or I tell you that we are clear of Neuroi held land." "Roger." They respond before we take off, leaving the 101st airborne, 5th parachute division and the 26th Volksgrenadier division behind.

Once we made it back the girls disappeared to scrub off the boot polish I had leant them. Stepping into the men's washroom I started to scrub off the polish. The polish was mixed with wood, dirt and grass but brovided good camouflage in the darkness of the jungles back in the day so I used the tactic again to prevent myself from being seen. I finished rather quickly due to using the same tactic before. Stepping into the room I shared with both Erica and Gertrude I noticed that both girls were having some troubles removing the polish. "I could help you out if you'd like." I offered. "Please do." Gertrude said as she tried to scrub off the polish. "AHH! Get it off!" Erica shouted while scrubbing away. "Here." I said as I started to help them. It took maybe five minutes to help both of them out. "Anyway, we should get some sleep." I said. "Yea! Tomorrow's Christmas! YAY!" Erica cheered. "Hartmann, I never thought I'd say this but, go to sleep." Gertrude ordered. "Aww. But I wanted to see Santa." Erica whined. "You know Santa is fictional, right?" Gertrude asked. "And rather creepy." I added in. "Yea, I know, but it's the magic of Christmas." Erica continues to sulk.

The next morning I awoke to something fuzzy at the edge of my vision. It took a moment to place what it was but once it came into focus I knew what it was. "Gertrude you might wanna wake up." I judged her. "Huh? Wha...?" She sleepily asked. I answered her by pointing upwards and she looked up, spotting the mistletoe being held up by her younger sister. "What's that in your hand Chris?" Gertrude asked still half asleep. "It's mitleteo." Chris answered her before I smirked as the realization dawned on her. "We're both under the mitleteo." I said before giving her a kiss. "Merry Christmas, Gertrude." I was then promptly kicked out of bed and onto the cold floor. "Don't do that so suddenly again." Gertrude said to me, looking up I could see her face was beat red and Chris was laughing. "You planned this didn't you." She accused me. "Actually, no, I didn't know about this until I woke up." I explained. "Then who planned this?" Gertrude asked. "Erica did." Chris answered her.

Stepping out of the room I realized what time it was. It wasn't normal for me to be up this late. "Morning, Stefan. We were wondering when you would wake up?" Lynne said. "Well I'm up now. Any news?" I ask. "Nothing much." Yoshika answered. "We should probably gather in the lounge, maybe Commander Minna has something to announce." I said before Commander Minna came down the hallway. "If you're looking for a mission we don't have any, but there is a message you might like." She said as she stopped and handed a file to me. "I believe you're bringing someone from my past on base then?" I asked. "See for yourself." Commander answered before walking off. Opening the file the first thing that caught my eye was a picture of Major Sakamoto. Continuing to read the file I saw the words reassigned, Instructor and 501st joint fighter wing. "Hey, Yoshika, I think you might like this." I said as I showed her the file. Her eyes lit up and she got excited. "Lynne, Sakamoto's coming back!" Yoshika shouted. "Major's coming back?" Perrine said sticking her head out of her room.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 18

I had ducked out of the Christmas party early to get a head start on paperwork and to advoid getting dragged into the bath by everyone. "What's this?" I said looking over the pile. Right on top we're two letters. Picking up the first one I looked at who sent it. "Squadron 7734? Never heard of them, what could they want?" I mutter as I open it up. The introduction gave away the fact that they hate witches, so I tossed it. The second was a few lines that read. 'I know how often your family reads this around Christmas, so I picked up a copy for you, here are the coordinates. 48.8555 N 2.3522 E, enjoy the chap d'elsie.' Turning over the note I read. 'Check into the Ritz.' "The Ritz? What could... be... there..." I said as it dawned on me. "My date with Gertrude is going to Paris. And these coordinates lead right to Paris. Whoever this is, is someone who can jump between dimensions and knows everything."

Settling down for a few hours of paperwork I read over a few pages for supplies and new equipment for the squadron. "What's this?" I said holding up a file. Opening it I read some new transfer orders for Sargent Hattori, transferring to the 501st. "This is a nice Christmas present for her from command." I said while getting up to leave only for Sargent Hattori to burst in wearing only a towel. "Hattori please cover yourself up!" I cried as I quickly turned away. "Commander Minna brought out some of your alcohol for everyone to drink. "Wait? What!" I said as I checked a drawer to make sure she didn't get all of them. "Damn it she took six of my eight!" I turned around a moved past Hattori and took off down the hall towards the bath, as I approach the bath house Yoshika came running out wrapped in a towel being chassed by Francesca who was trying to grope her. "Stefan help! Commander Minna got Francesca drunk!" Yoshika cried as Francesca got her. "Sorry Yoshika, Commander Minna stoke some of my whiskey." I explained as I activated my aura sense. Just as I did Francesca groped me or more accurately she mistook me for a girl and drunkenly tried to fondle my chest as if they were a pair of breasts. It's rather uncomfortable when it happens. "Francesca where's Shirley?" I asked. "In the bath!" She answered while swaying around. "Yoshika please take Francesca back to her room and get her and everyone else some water." I ordered as I walked throught the changing room hoping not to bump into anything as my aura sense only picked up the aura's of people and Neuroi, not objects.

Stepping into the bath I could smell the booze in the air. "How much did everyone drink?" I wondered outloud. "They finished the six bottles entirely." Lynne answered. "More accurately Shirley, Francesca, Eila, Captain Barkhorn, Commander Minna and Erica." "Did they each drink a bottle?" I asked as I helped Gertrude out of the tub, she was still holding onto a bottle. "I knew you never had anything to do with booze but being this much of a lightweight. *sigh* Perrine help me moving Shirley to hers and Francesca's room. Lynne watch over them till I get back with Sanya and Heidemarie, got it." I ordered them. With the help of Perrine, we pull Shirley from the tub and wrap her in a towel.

Stepping into Shirley's and Francesca's room I spot Yoshika watching Francesca as she slept. "Yoshika, can you watch over these two until they wake?" I ask as we set Shirley down on her bed. "Yes, of course, Stefan." She answered. "Alright I'll leave you in charge here." I said as I walked out the door and towards the rooms of our resident night witches. I arrived at Sanya's room first, I knocked on the door to get the attention of Sanya before announcing my presence. "Sanya, I need you to get dressed and out of bed, meet me at the bath enterance and I'll explain when I get there." I then walked on once I saw her aura move from her bed. Approaching Commander Minna's and Heidemarie's room I spotted Heidemarie already stepping out. "Sanya told me everything sir, and Sub-Wing Commander, why are your eyes closed?" She asked. "Well." I said turning around to walk back to the bath house. "It's one of my magic abilities, it comes with a down side though, I can only see the aura of a living being, for example a Neuroi or a fellow witch." I explain. "Oh... That explains it sir." She said. "You don't need to call me sir Heidemarie, just call me whatever feels comfortable." I said as I picked up everyone else's aura minus Yoshika, Francesca and Shirley. "Alright you two I need help moving some of the girls as Minna got into my whiskey cabinet and got six girls drunk. So far we've moved Shirley and Francesca, the others we need to move to their rooms and I need you two to watch over them, please don't try anything as the paperwork is already tiring." I explained.

Stepping into the bath I heard Lynne speak up. "If each one of you pairs up we could move two at a time." "Great suggestion Lynne." I congratulated her. "Sanya and Perrine will take Eila to her room while Heidemarie and Myself take Minna." A series of 'Roger' and 'yes sir' told me they understood. "Alright let's move them." I then moved to pick up Minna and with the help of Heidemarie we pulled her out of the water and wrapped her up in a towel.

I gave off a huff as I sat down in the chair I had pulled over from my desk in the room I shared with Erica and Gertrude. "My lord is Gertrude heavy." I muttered as I looked down at my girlfriend who was currentally cuddling with Erica. "Where does all that weight come from?" 'I wish I had a camera right now.' I thought. **"You could go get one."** Jarvis suggested. 'And risk her pointing a gun at our head again, I think not.' I responded. **"Well she is passed out..."** Jarvis trailed off. 'Jarvis no, I have to much respect for her and I value my manhood staying intact.' I responded to him. **"You're right. Wonder what she's dreaming about?"** Jarvis said changing the subject. 'Yea... what does she dream about?' I thought just as Gertrude rolled away from Erica and mumbled something. "What was that?" I said as I leaned in only for her to wrap my head in a bear hug while shoving it between her chest.

I struggled for a few seconds due to the surprise of the sudden assault. **"Hey, I'd like to tell you on behalf of your lungs that they really miss air."** Jarvis said. 'Yea well I'm trying, kinda hard when your head is stuck between someone's breasts, Jarvis.' I shot back as I moved my right hand to find something to help free my left arm from underneath her and to free myself when it brushed across her chest. "Mmmm, be gentil." She muttered. 'What the fuck is she dreaming about?!' I shouted at Jarvis. **"I have no idea!"** He shouted back. I moved further down hoping to find a way to roll her off of me only for my hand to graze her rear and she mumbled something I didn't pick up as my head was currently being squeezed more. She suddenly rolled towards me while letting go of my head. 'Finally, air!' I cheered as I caught Gertrude before she could hit the floor. "Uh, Stefan?" Yoshika asked from the doorway. "Oh lord! Yoshika how much did you see?!" I shouted in surprise again. "About two minutes of it." She answered nervously. "Hmm, Stefan What's going on?" Gertrude sleepily asked before I dropped her to the cold floor. "What was that for..." She said as realization dawned on her almost as quickly as the blush. "Yoshika, I'm not at fault for my girlfriend doing any of that." I stated. "I'll just... go..." Yoshika said before leaving in shock. "Vadim, sic her." I said as I pointed at Gertrude who layed just below me. She let off a shriek as Vadim's cold and wet nose touched her bare skin. "Serves you right for having dreams like that." I said. "And nearly suffocating a superior officer." I then got off the ground and sat back in my seat.

The next morning wasn't fun, Francesca was complaining about the headache and being hungover while the other five girls suffered aswell. "Morrison, how do you deal with this?" Minna asked quietly. "I don't, I've learnt to operate while drunk and hungover so deal with it." I answered while taking a sip from my morning coffee. "Anyway now we're down six witches for today." I said. "And only five are battle ready after the party." I shot a glare at Minna for getting six of our best witches drunk. I then pulled out the folder on Hattori's transfer. "I apologize for how late this is Hattori but I'd like to officially welcome you to the 501st joint fighter wing." I said while handing it to her. "Two new members will be joining us in a couple days. One is Major Sakamoto, and the other is..." I raised up the file to read the name. "Captain Olivia Jantzen." (A/N: I'd like to credit AdmiralJ for suggesting her as a new character.) I set the file down before sliding it over to Minna. "I've got some more paperwork to do, you girls can read up alittle bit." I said before leaving.

"Why is it so cold in here?" Gertrude asked as she walked in. "It's not cold, it's the perfect temperature." I reasponded while finishing off some more paperwork on supplies. "I think I know why Vadim's nose is always cold, he's always hanging out with you in here." Gertrude said while rubbing her arms. Looking past Gertrude I gave off a chuckle which cause Gertrude to spin around and give off a squeak of surprise as she hadn't realized that Chris was following her. "What's wrong big sis?" Chris asked. "Nothing, you just startled her." I said while pointing at Vadim and making a motion telling her to keep quiet. Vadim jumped up and landed on Gertrude's shoulders and started to kiss her like every other dog. Gertrude almost immediately wrapped Vadim in a hug. "He'ssocute." She said while holding him. "Sis, he's trying to get down." Chris pointed out. "Oh." Gertrude said before placing Vadim gently on the ground. "Anyway, Gertrude why did you come here? It definitely wasn't to help me with paperwork." I asked. "Yea, I came here for a quiet place to nap, and to get away from Hartmann." Gertrude answered. "I have a small hammock in the corner incase I chose to take a nap during the day, you can use that for now." I said while pointing over my shoulder at it. "Now Chris why did you come, or were you following your sister?" I asked her. "I was following my sister." She answered as Gertrude fell asleep in the hammock, or atleast I think she did as I could hear the light snoring. "It would be nice if you could take Vadim for a walk, just to get him out and about instead of being stuck in my office most of the day." I said. "Yes, I'll do it!" Chris said excitedly like most kids would. "Here." I said as I tossed her Vadim's leash. "You'll need that." She then ran out of my office with Vadim chasing after her, his tail going a mile a minute. "That's cute, wouldn't you say Gertrude?" I asked leaning back to see my girlfriend watching her sister run down the hall. "They're adorable." She answered before rolling over. "Now let me sleep off this hang over." I gave off a chuckle. "Here let me help you out." I said as I fished around in my foot locker for a few seconds. "Where is the damn thing." I muttered before I heard Gertrude fall out of the hammock. "Leaned to far out, didn't you." I said as I turned towards Gertrude who was nursing a bruised forehead. "Here, This should help." I tossed a canteen to her, she fumbled to catch it but managed to. "What's in here?" She asked. "A mix of water, a few other ingredients and hair from the dog that bit you." I answered. "But Vadim never bit me?" Gertrude questioned. "Not an actually dog, there's some whiskey mixed in to help with the hang over." I answered.

"Stefan, Captain Barkhorn, Lunch is ready!" Yoshika callee as she opened my office door. "Thanks Yoshika, I'll get Gertrude up." I said before leaning over to Gertrude. I picked up Vadim and placed him in the hammock, turning to Chris I held a finger infront of my lips to keep her quiet. The shout of surprise from Gertrude was priceless and Chris and I burst out laughing. "Stefan! Why!?" Gertrude demanded. "Yoshika said lunch was ready, so I woke you up." I managed to wheeze out. Gertrude smacked me over the back of the head as she walked by. "Don't listen to Stefan when he does stuff like that, alright Chris." Gertrude spoke to Chris. "Okay." Chris answered. "Hey wait up for me, come on Vadim." I said as I ran to catch up to them. Falling into step beside Gertrude with Vadim on my heels I glance over at the two girls. "Wish I had a camera right now." I muttered as I watched Gertrude become the over protective sister she is.

"Here comes the other five." I comment as the other five hungover girls came stumbling in. "How is Trude able to operate normally?" Erica questioned me. "Erica, I couldn't leave Chris with out her over protective sister, so I helped her out and gave her the cure all of hangovers." I answered. "And why not help us? We are your fellow squadron mates." Eula pointed out. "Because one, Gertrude's my girlfriend and two, she has to take care of Chris. And the rest of you don't fit into either category." I explained. "On another note, Eila how did Sanya treat you while you were passed out drunk in her bed?" I questioned her. She immediately broke out into a blush and started to fumble her words. "Wah... How? How did you know that?" She asked. "I have an all seeing eye. It goes by the name of Jarvis." I answered. **"Hey, I didn't pick that name, you did."** Jarvis pointed out. 'I know, I know.' I answered him. "Huh?" Sanya said as I responded. "What's wrong Sanya?" Eila asked looking over I notice Sanya just behind the Sumos witch. "Afternoon Sanya. How was your night?" I asked our Orussian night witch. "Fine, nothing to report." She responds. "That's good, means it's quiet and I won't have to worry about any surprise attacks." I answer.

I was on my fifth cup of coffee when the phone rang, everyone looked up and the six hungover witches winced. "I'll get it." I said as I stood up. Picking you the phone I hear the voice of one of the guard captains as he asks me a question. "We're you expecting a Captain Olivia Jantzen? Because we have a Captain Olivia Jantzen at gate number three." "We weren't expecting Captain Jantzen for another couple days but I'll drive down and pick her up. Just hold her there until then." I answered. "Yes sir!" He said before I could hear someone in the background say something before they hung up. "Who was that?" Minna asked. "Guard Captain at gate three, seems like Captain Jantzen has arrived early." I said as I placed my officers hat on the table. "I'll come back once I pick her up." I then walked out of the dinning room.

Stepping into the guard house I notice a girl, she has hair slightly longer than Hartmann's with a similar flight jacket and a swimsuit similar to Major's and Yoshika's underneath. "Are you Captain Olivia Jantzen, by chance?" I ask her. "Please just call me Olivia." She answers. "Alright then Olivia, why are you here early? Most would choose to stay at their original unit longer and only arrive on time." I ask. "I worked as a test pilot for Ursula Hartmann-" she started. "Say no more, welcome to the team." I said cutting her off. "I know the kinds stuff she does. Trust me, I was her test pilot for two years." "Really?" She asks. "Yea, hit lots of trees and buildings." I answer as we step out of the guard house. Glancing over to my car which I drove here, I spot Vadim standing on the drivers seat with his front paws on the wheel. "Vadim get down." I ordered him only for him to bark at me. "Vadim, back, now." I order again pointing at the back. Vadim barks again and honks the horn causing Olivia to giggle at my predicament. "Vadim Don't make me come over there and move you myself, if I have to I'll cut your rations." I threatened causing Olivia to started laughing. Vadim then jumps into the passengers seat just to spite me. "Vadim, I'll cut your rations if you don't get in the back now." I threatened my pet. Vadim barks before complying and seating himself behind Olivia. "Gertrude spoils you rotten." I said as I got in the drivers seat. "Wing commander Morrison, shouldn't I drive?" Olivia questions. "I've learnt from my time on the frontlines that the Neuroi aim for the person sitting shotgun as they are the highest ranking officer so if I drive it'll confuse them." I answer. "That makes sense, all executive the frontlines part." Oilivia answers. "When I was 14 I joined up, mostly because I had nowhere else to go and had 'lost' my memory so the doctors couldn't figure out who I was, so I joined up to make money and maybe find something to jog my memory while at it. Served on Hong Kong and in the southeast as a foot soldier and a witch, both at two different times." I explained. "Oh, makes much more sense now." Olivia states. "Now I noticed that some parts of your file were classified, Care to tell me why?" I ask. "Mostly due to my magic power. It's something everyone wants but I'm the only one who has it." She explained. "Vague, real vague." I said. "Looks like we are here, and we still have time to get some hot chow." I said while glancing at my watch. "If we hurry we might get something special."

"I'm back." I said as I stepped into the dinning room. "And I brought company." I then stepped aside to show everyone Olivia. "Hello, I'm Captain Olivia Jantzen, But please call me Olivia." A chorus of 'Hello' and 'Nice to meet you' greeted her. Once the greetings died down I glanced up and down the table for a open spot. "Major Heidemarie, do you mind if Olivia sits beside you?" I ask. "No, not at all." Heidemarie answers. "Join the rest of your new team, hope you don't mind being pressed into action right away." I said as I took my seat beside Gertrude. Praying my coffee hadn't gotten cold. "Damn." I mutter as I realize that it had. "What's wrong?" Gertrude asked. "My coffee got cold while I was gone." I said before downing the rest of it. "Not as bad as the American version of iced tea." I then realized what I had said with two witches who had no clue about the fact that I wasn't originally from here. "What's an American?" Heidemarie asks. "Long story..." I said. "Lots of guns being pointed abt me aswell so buckle in from story hour." I said before diving into the deep end and explaining my overly complicated backstory.

Once I was done Heidemarie didn't speak or move. "Think I broke her?" I said to Gertrude. "She could be in shock." Gertrude suggested. "Yoshika, possible shock victim." I called into the kitchen where our resident chief cooked. "One second." Yoshika called back. "That's a lot to take in." Heidemarie said. Looking over at Olivia I noticed she seemed unaffected. "Olivia, you aren't surprised by this revelation?" I asked her. "Not really, just thought I was the only one." She answered, dropping a bombshell on everyone. "Yea, I did too." I said. "What's your favourite part about this new lifestyle compared to your old one?" "I'd say, the lack of the world wars and most crimes against humanity." She answered. "Yea, though the Neuroi seem to follow the tactics and operations of the German Wehrmacht and the Impirial Japanese Empire rather closely." I said remembering the struggles in the jungles and the attacks during the night. The conversation went on back and forth for some time before I excused myself to do paperwork.

I was finally caught up on all the paperwork, after pulling two all-nighters in a row and not finishing until two in the morning today, I could finally get a good rest. If someone walked by me right now they would think I'm a zombie simply because I have nothing on my mind aside from sleep. I vaguely remember Major talking to me about an idea of her's but couldn't remember much more. Stepping into the room I shared with my girlfriend and Erica I trudged over to my side of the bed. Slipping my pistol under the pillow like I always do, I then fall onto the bed, and am out like a light. The first notes of a bugle ring out and in my half asleep state I grab my pistol and point it directally at the person sounding the bugle. "Don't. Play. Another. Fucking. Note." I manage to speak on four hours of sleep. "I'm to tired to do anything, so leave before I chose to make you." I threaten. I then heard the scampering of feet as a small group of about four leave quickly.

Around lunch I woke up and sleepily mangaged to get dressed and leave the room. Stepping into the dinning area with a yawn I look around to see a few faces look back with a glint of fear. "What, is there something I should be afraid of?" I ask looking over my shoulder. "Uh, No, it's how you reacted to being woken up this morning, Stefan." Yoshika said. "And how was that?" I ask as I didn't remembered much. "You pointed a gun at us and told us to leave." Major said. "That was of course after I blew the bugle." "So that was your bright idea, well don't wake me up that way ever again, last time that happened I nearly shot someone." I commented before taking my seat. "Anyway, why did you try to wake me up?" "You don't remember?" Major said. "It was so you could train Perrine, Yoshika and Lynne." "Oh, sorry gals but I'll have to start tomorrow." I apologized.

It took five minutes to convince Minna to allow me and Gertrude to have five days off, five minutes. I walk into the lounge room looking for my girlfriend and spotted her sitting on the couch across from Erica who was surprisingly playing chess. "Say Erica, do you have the newspaper from December 27?" I ask. "Yeah, here." She said as she tossed me the paper. Front page news was 'Patton's Third Army Relieve Bastogne!' "Erica, pay up." I said after reading the front page news. She grumbled and handed me the twenty bucks. "Anyway, What are you two doing?" I ask as I sit down on the couch beside Gertrude and slip off my shoes. "We're playing chess." Erica answers. "Okay, I'm gonna borrow this for awhile." I said as I laid my head on Gertrude's lap. "And before I forget, we have two days to pack before we go on leave." I then held up her leave papers. "Thanks, Stefan." She answers still engrosed in her match with Erica.

"I won, Hartmann!" Gertrude cheered while standing up causing me to roll off her lap. I heard the snickering from Erica as I rolled the rest of my body onto the floor. "Sorry Stefan." Gertrude apologized. "Ah, I'm fine. I kinda needed to get up." I brushed off her worry. "How about a quick match before I do a check up on my car's engine." I suggest. "Yea." Gertrude said. "Sure." Erica agreed. "How about the two of you verses me." I suggest as I sit down. "Yes! I will crush you at this game!" Gertrude proclaimed. "You'll eat those words." I said. "You just might Trudy." Erica said. "I will not! I will finally beat you Stefan!" Gertrude said. "Let's see about that." I grinned. "Bring it!" Gertrude said as she made the first move. Four moves later I was enjoying the look on Gertrude's face as I leaned back from winning the game. "Like I said, you'll eat those words." I said. "H-How? I was supposed to win, I had a fool proof strategy." Gertrude said in shock. "Well not entirely, you leave many openings in your first moves allowing the four move check mate to be performed without any problems." I answered. "Now I do need to preform a check up on my car." I then left the room, ducking as the chess board slammed into the wall where my head was moments ago. "Get back here!" Gertrude called after me as I booked it towards my car.

I felt someone lightly tapping my foot as I was looking over the underside of my car. Rolling out from underneath, I look up to see Major looking down at me. "I found this in your office waist paper basket." She said holding up a letter. "Care to explain?" "What does it say, you see I've gotten a lot of letters in recent weeks." I said. "It's an offer to join a male fighter squadron, known as the witch breakers." Major answered. "Then toss it. I am mighty fine where I am now, prefer it actually." I answer before wheeling myself back under. "I'm not done with you yet, Stefan." Major said. "When were you going to tell us that you got this letter?" "I tossed it for a reason, I don't want anything to do with idiots." I answered. "You should have told us about this." Major argued. "And pray tell, why?" I ask. "They're known as the witch breakers for a reason." Major said. "Please elaborate." I answered only to hear her footsteps as she walked away.

A/N: I would like to thank AdmiralJ for the OC Captain Olivia Jantzen and for multiple of the ideas in this chapter. I always enjoy polite conversations with readers.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 19

I heard Vadim bark at someone as I was under my car. Wheeling out I spot Gertrude walking towards me with her gun. Whipping the oil and grease off my hands, she greets me. "Stefan, we've been ordered to do a patrol along the lines of advance for Patton's third army, they have reported stiff resistance and tougher than normal Neuroi and they want us to check it out." "How many of us are going?" I ask. "Just the two of us." Gertrude answers. "Well I don't mind, it'll get me away from paperwork for a couple hours." I joke while walking towards my striker. "Why is there a lot of paperwork?" Gertrude asks. "Most of it is supplies, though some are from guards asking for leave or to be transferred to another unit." I answer. "Though I have a gut feeling that we might be having a major operation sometime soon, mostly because I've have been asked to find a way to cut down on supplies." "Really? Why?" Gertrude asks as we prepare to take off. "Well most likely they're going to try to liberate Karlesland." I answer before switching on the radio. "This is Sub-Wing Commander Morrison, taking off." I then speed down the runway, Gertrude close behind.

We had done a few laps around the front to see the progress and to try and find any Neuroi. None appeared to challenge us and we received no Neuroi AAA, or flak fire. "Strange." I muttered. "It's too quiet for them to be here. Where could they have gone?" "I don't know. Maybe they chose to retreat?" Gertrude suggested. "Highly unlikely." I answered. "They are stubborn and don't give up ground easily." "Youre right. So why is it this quiet?" Gertrude restated my original question. Then the sound of radio interference was picked up by our radio's. "Let's try to find the source and take it out, it could cause some problems to the frontline units." I said abefore dropping down to about 200 meters to better locate the source of the interference.

After a few minutes of flying along the front we located to source to be somewhere in the municipality of Houffalize near the spear tip of the third army. Flying over the spear head I look down to see the men and tank witches waving up at us. I look over to the small town where they are heading and decide to get a better look. Dropping down to just above tree top level, I scan the area, looking for the black and red hexagonal pattern of a Neuroi. I spotted something I assumed was a Neuroi about 1000 meters ahead of the tank witches who were leading the way. "Gertrude fly top cover while I check below real quick." I ordered before flying over to it.

I heard the soft crunch of snow as I landed near a flak 88. The bodies of the operator were strewn about and mangled, it would cause anyone else to kneel over and empty their breakfast, but I'd seen more than my fair share, I'd somehow gotten used to it. "Brave men, but they were fools, no one can stop a Neuroi attacking force with five men." I muttered as I approached the surprisingly intact flak 88. Then the ground shock as to my left and right a light tank Neuroi broke through the ground that had hidden it and the flak 88 became Neuroified. "Shit, shit, shit, shit." I said as I scrambled to get out of the way of the three Neuroi lasers that were pointed at me. I brought my Lee Enfeild up to my shoulder, as I only brought it and my Webley, and fired a shot at the flak 88, hoping to take out the fearsome gun before it could take me out. "Stefan what's going on?" Gertrude's voice crackled over the radio. "I've been ambushed! They have two light tank Neuroi and a Neuroified flak 88!" I answered before being forced to fly down lower to advoid a shot from the flak canon. Cycling the bolt on my rifle I took aim at the tank that had appeared on my left flank and fired a shot dead center, killing it almost immediately. "One down, two to go." I said as I cycled the bolt once more. Then Gertrude strafed the flak canon with both MG's, even though I told her to bring one as it's nothing more than a scouting mission. "I told you to bring your Vicker's." She said as she flew up beside me. "Yea Yea, you can say 'I told you so' later." I answered as I took aim at the second Neuroi tank. A sudden boom of a tanks main gun surprises us as we see the tank witches arrive. "And the cavalry has arrived." I say as they make quick work of the small light tank and the flak 88. "I guess it's time to head on back to base."

Back at base we were greeted by Commander Minna upon entering the hanger. "Afternoon, Commander." I greeted her. "Good afternoon, Minna." Gertrude greeted her. "Glad your back. If you stayed out longer you might have been caught in the hail storm coming this way." Commander said while pointing behind us. Looking over my shoulder I spot the dark clouds of the storm. "I'm going out on pat-" I started to say before Gertrude yanked my collar cutting me off. "You are not going out to fly in the rain and hail." She stated while giving me the death glare. I gave off a sharp quick whistle. Gertrude and Commander Minna looked between them before the sound of nails on hardwood floor was heard as Vadim ran into the hanger. Thank god he still remembered his little bit of training that I drilled into him. The instant he stopped, he spotted Gertrude and went up to her causing her to let go of me, at that instant I started to take off until another yank of my collar pulled me back. Looking over my shoulder I spotted Gertrude giving me the death glare. "Out of your striker. Now." She ordered. I wisely chose to compile with her demand. "And don't use Vadim like that again." "Alright. I'll take him for a quick walk so we won't get caught in the rain." I answered while picking up Vadim's leash. Clipping it on I look over at the storm. "Something feels off about this storm." I mutter as I step out into the wind with Vadim.

I had made it back inside just as it started to hail on us. "That was a close one, eh, Vadim?" I asked my fox. I got a bark as a response. "I've been waiting." I heard Gertrude say as she tapped her foot. "Well I'm back and I didn't get caught out in the storm." I pointed out as I walked up to her. "But I'm all snowy because of the wind, wanna give your boyfriend a hug." I teased her while holding my arms out like I was expecting her to hug me. "Not with all the snow." She shot me down. "Also the storm seems to be messing with the radar somewhat so we have to rely on Sanya's antenna." "Well that's not good." I said. "I don't like being effectively blind." "No one does, Stefan." Gertrude shot back. "Yea, most people don't like being blinded." I agreed with her before taking out my pack of cigarettes. "Want one?" I offer to her. "No." She answers. "Suit yourself, I'm heading to the hanger to smoke." I said before leaving her.

I was leaning against my striker unit as I watched the storm get steadily closer. "Thought I'd find you here." Olivia said, breaking the silence. "Yea, usually I smoke when I need to relax or unwind after something stressful." I said. "You did meantion that you were a 'history buff' in our old world... universe... dimension." She said. "So I came to ask if it hailed on December 29, 1944?" "It didn't, And That's what's making me nervous." I explained. "I've meet many Neuroi that could control the weather around them to conceal their position from radar, both a night witches and radar installations." "That doesn't sound good." Olivia said. "Kinda why I wanted to patrol the storm. See if there is a Neuroi inside or not." I said. "Why didn't you?" Olivia asked me. "Well, it's a long story actually. Though I can simplify it to Gertrude didn't want me to go." I explained. "Your girlfriend holds that much power over you?" Olivia said before laughing. "Olivia, ever heard the saying 'happy wife, happy life, happy husband, there's no rhyme, because no one gives a damn.' It's very true in my life currently." I said. "Still, the great male witch still bows to the power of a single female witch." She laughed. "I really regret telling you." I said. "You should, you know how girls gossip." She said. "Heh." I laughed as I light another cigarette. "I do know very well how much girls gossip, especially those I end up hating." "Why would you hate girls who gossip?" Olivia asked. "I don't hate girls who gossip, just those with mean personalities." I answered.

We stood in silence for some time before we saw two shapes shambling towards us from inside the hail storm that had now engulfed the entire base. I reached for my rifle and Olivia got ready to draw her pistol. We watched as the shapes got closer and distinctly more human. As they entered the hanger we could tell that they were two guards coming in from a shift. "Anything to report?" I asked them, startling them somewhat as they didn't see us. "No, sir, everything's fine. The weather's shit, but aside from that, nothing." One answered. "Alright, dismissed." I said, dismissing them to allow them to warm up and get something warm to eat. Checking the time I spot that it's 12:17. "Well I think we should hit the sack, there is a possibility of something happening tomorrow." I said before heading towards the hall. "Yea it is kinda late." Olivia agreed.

I used my aura sense to see if either of the girls were awake, thankfully they weren't. Stepping in, I look over to the bed I share with my girlfriend and see her cuddling Vadim to her chest. "Lucky guy." I whisper under my breath before slowly closing the door and approaching the bed. I change as quickly and as silently as I could before slipping into bed. 'Sleep at last.' I thought. **"Don't be so sure about that."** Jarvis said breaking me away from sleep. 'What do you mean, Jarvis?' I ask him. **"I'm picking up traces of Neuroi. Sanya should be able to handle it, but they might scramble someone."** Jarvis explained. 'Then let me sleep. I will worry about it in the morning.' I said to him before drifting into sleep.

The next morning I was woken by Eila kicking in our door. "Sanya's missing!" She shouted at me as I picked myself off the floor. "Calm down, Eila. We'll find her." I said trying to calm Eila down. "I am calm!" She shouted back. "Then why are you shouting?" I asked. "I'm not shouting!" She growled at me. **"Just agree with her Stefan, it's not worth the pain."** Jarvis said. 'Yea I know.' I answered him. "Where did she go missing?" I asked Eila while quickly putting on a clean shirt. "And could you go inform Commander Minna, Major Hiedemarrie and Major Sakamoto." Eila then left the door way rather quickly allowing me to change rapidly. 'Jarvis, can you tell me where Sanya went missing?' I asked my Neuroi core. **"No, she flew out of my radar range, so I don't know what happened."** Jarvis explained. "Damn it." I said as I finished getting dressed and ran out the door, leaving behind a confused Gertrude and Erica. Passing Yoshika and Lynne I told them. "Follow me, we have a rescue mission." "For who?" Yoshika said, barely keeping up with me. "Sanya went missing last night and might have been shot down." I explained as I slid into the briefing room, spotting everyone but Gertrude and Erica there. "Good for you to finally arrive, Morrison." Major said. "I came as fast as I could. I'm not going to run around the base in my sleepwear." I said. "Anyway, do you know what happened?" Commander asked. "All I know is that Sanya never returned to base last night and we assume she has gone missing, most likely she's been shot down." I said. **"You forgot to mention the Neuroi."** Jarvis pipped up. 'I know, Jarvis. They would be suspicious if I knew about her chasing a Neuroi.' I answered. "We were hoping that you, Morrison, could lead a search and rescue mission." Commander said. "Along with, Heidemarie, Yoshika and Eila." "Yes ma'am!" They all answered. "Morrison, your group leaves in ten." Major said. "Everyone, dismissed!" And with that I left the room and headed back to grab my rifle and Webley before getting to the hanger.

We had gone over Sanya's route twice now and hadn't found any sign of her. 'Jarvis, I want you to lead me to her last position on radar.' I said. **"Alright, take a left now."** Jarvis answered. Following his directions we got to the border of the Neuroi forces and our own forces. "Split up and search, maintain radio contact and don't chase any Neuroi, we are only here to find Sanya." I ordered. The girls gave me a few strange looks before doing as they were told. I dived down to tree top level and started scanning the area for one of our resident night witches. 'Jarvis, any sign of her?' I asked. **"Nothing, wait!"** He said. **"To our right there's her signal."** Following his directions I fly right over a waiting Neuroified anti-aircraft gun which fires at me. "Woah, to close for comfort." I call out as it just barely misses me. Dodging the next shot I fire back and score another kill. "344, I believe." I say out loud only for a sudden shot to take out my right striker. "Shit!" I cried out as I lost control. "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday-" I manage to get out over the radio before another shot knocks the ear piece free from my ear.

My landing was terrible, I landed on my right side with a sickening crack. 'Status report.' I asked my Neuroi core. **"Broke your right arm in two places plus dislocated your shoulder."** Jarvis responded. **"Best to ditch the Vickers and your striker."** I slowly got to my feet after kicking off my damaged striker units and tossed away the one Vickers that had stayed in my hand after landing. 'Now to find Sanya, any idea?' I asked Jarvis. **"Her signal is somewhere to our right."** Jarvis answers. **"Possibly in a shallow cave or a deep hole in the side of a snow bank."** 'Then let's start walking.' I said before trudging through the snow with my trusted Webley ahead of me.

I came across the third place that Sanya could be hidden, approaching quietly I get near the enterance. Using my aura sense I scan the cave for her signature, she's near the back of the cave and is facing towards the front. "Sanya, it's me." I call quietly call into the cave. "Stefan?" She answers back. "Yea, I botched the rescue so far, but I can still walk you out." I said while stepping in and spotting her. "Did you sleep at all?" I asked seeing how she still held onto her Fliegerhammer. "Also ditch you Fliegerhammer for now. It'll only weigh you down and slow us on our escape." I then holstered my Webley and handed her my rifle. "I want this back after this is all over." "Stefan what happened to your arm?" She asked. "Broke it in two places and dislocated my shoulder, how was your landing?" I asked walking deeper in to stand beside her. "Just a few scrapes and bruises." She answered. "Alright, we'll move at night, so you should get some sleep while I get some firewood and maybe something for breakfast." I said before stepping back outside the cave.

Frewood was surprisingly easy to find, just hard to carry back to the cave with only one working arm. "Here." I said handing her our breakfast/lunch, which was just some rabbit meat with melted snow. "Eat up while you can, we leave once the sun goes down." I said. "Stefan? Can I ask you something?" Sanya asked. "Sure, shoot." I answered. "What's it like to feel love for someone else?" She asked. "That's... a really good question, that I don't know the answer to. But I can explain the theory behind it." I answered. "It usually starts with a warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of your gut before you start stuttering and fumbling your words around the person, the stuttering and fumbling don't always happen but are common enough to be considered signs, you'll also be around them more and more often, and evolves into worry for their well being, sometimes they will return the feelings, sometimes not. Does that answer your question?" "Not really." Sanya answers. "You better get some more sleep." I said. "We leave in about 6 hours and 45 minutes." She mummered something before using my left shoulder as a pillow.

The hoot of an owl was all that I could hear aside from the soft crunching of snow, I couldn't see more than 50 meters ahead of me because of the darkness mixed with the tightly packed trees. "Sanya, you still with me?" I whispered to her. "Yes." She answered just as quietly. "Just checking that I didn't lose you." I said before continuing on our way. The sudden screach of a Neuroi caused us to freeze in our tracks. 'Please don't let it spot us.' I repeated in my head. **"It's heading away from here."** Jarvis said. **"It's not coming back, it must be a patrol."** 'Thank god.' I said. "Stefan, who said that?" Sanya asked. "Said what?" I asked. "'It's heading away from here. It's not coming back, it must be a patrol.'" She perfectly quoted Jarvis. **"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit."** Jarvis panicked. 'Calm down.' I said. "That would be my Neuroi core, Jarvis. He's a bit jumpy after the couple assassination attempts." I explained to Sanya as we continued ahead. "We should reach the frontlines by mid day tomorrow if we continue this pace." I said as we stopped for a breather. I noticed Sanya shivering in the cold, I was aswell because of the -40C we were walking in without shoes, socks, warm clothes and long pants for both of us. "We should keep going. Otherwise we could freeze." I said before we continued.

We could see a group of men milling about doing their duties for the afternoon. Stumbling up to the watchman I leaned up against the tree beside his foxhole. "Wing Commander Morrison and Flying Officer Litvyak, reporting in after being shot down." I said before Sanya fell against my right arm shivering, luckily the cold had dulled the pain to the point it wasn't noticeable. "Holy shit, how are you alive!? Medic! Get over here!" The man yelled as he made a beeline to a tent. I saw a man with a Red Cross walk out and spot us shivering in the cold. "I need two stretchers!" He hollered. "Make it one!" I hollered at him. "I'm fine walking. We are going to need a ride up to St. Trond base!" "You are not going anywhere until I give you the right!" He Hollered back.

I ended up in the back of the Jeep sitting with my broken arm in a sling. We had been on the road for about 5 hours now and had reached the enterance to the base. "Wing Commander Morrison and Flying Officer Litvyak reporting in." I said to the guard. "Sir!" He said as he raised the barrier. "What do you think they've done while we've been on our vacation?" I asked Sanya. "I don't know, and we were not on vacation." Sanya answered before sneezing. "Catching a cold?" I asked. "Yea, how are you not?" She answered. "I'm-" I cut myself off before saying Canadian as the driver had no clue about the whole from another world thing. "Farawaylander." I finished looking over the sunset.

The sun was about halfway down when we hopped out of the Jeep. "They're right over there." I said pointing over to the group as they all stood in a half circle around something. Walking up I tap Lynne on the shoulder and ask. "What's going on?" "It's Stefan's and Sanya's funeral." Lynne explained. "Never thought I would be around to see my own funeral. What about you Sanya?" I ask Sanya. Everyone turned around at that and saw us. "Sanya!" Eila cried before tackling her to the ground. "I was so worried." Eila trailed off into a multitude of questions. Gertrude nearly tackled me but I held up my hand to stop her. "I've already broken enough bones, don't want to add more to the list." I said. "Wait you broke bones!? As in multiple!?" Gertrude freaked out. "Yea. Broke my right arm in two places and dislocated my shoulder. They popped it back it the hospital after warming us up." I answered. "It's good to have you back." Gertrude said before hugging me gently. "It's good to be back." I answered returning the hug. "Though I would think I still have the next five days off to spend time in Paris." I said. "You do, I never got around to notifying the high command of your death. They would have known once the workload had gone down enough to allow me some time to breath." Commanded answered. "Good, I'm in no condition to forceibly kick down another door." I joke before looking over to Sanya and Eila who still hadn't gotten off the ground. "How long before they admit to their true feelings?" I asked Gertrude. "I'd say they will be dating by the time we are back." Gertrude answers. "Same." I say.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 20

I stretched my arms for the hundredth time since we had been driving. It was around mid day and the cold wind was blowing over the snow covered forest to our right and an open farmers field to our left. "How do you think Vadim's doing without us?" Gertrude asked while leaning against me. "He should be fine." I answer her. "Yoshika and Lynne are taking care of him while we're gone. And he'll be waking up Erica to get food so be prepare for a tired Erica when we get back." Gertrude laughed at this. "Isn't she always tired." "Yea, unless there's food made by our two chefs." I shot back.

The ride was mostly us laughing and enjoying each other's company for the eight hour drive. When we made it to Paris I drove to the Hotel Lutetia and parked just out front. I had made the reservation for the three days we would be in Paris by phone. "Hello." I greeted the receptionist. "Hello, How May I help you?" She asked. "I reserved a room for three days and four nights. Do you know what room I've been assigned?" I answered. "Yes, name please sir." She said. "It's Morrison." I answered her. "Ah, you have room 112, here you go sir." She said while handing me the keys. "Thank you." I thanked her. "You're welcome." She responded before I took my leave and carried our luggage to our room.

Gertrude opened the door and went in first, I followed close behind with my hands full. "Where should I set down our luggage?" I asked her. "Just set it on the desk for now. We need to sleep after that long ride." Gertrude answers. "It's agood thing we didn't bring any guns, the security is really tight in some areas." Gertrude then turned around to see me moving my Webley into its holster. "Stefan! What did I say about bringing guns!" She shouted before smacking me with a rolled up newspaper that was nearby. "Ow. Gertrude knock it off I'm tired aswell and would like to sleep." I said blocking the blows. "Not until you answer why you brought your gun!" Gertrude said while she continued to beat me. I raised my arms in Defense before I got an idea. Ducking under the next blow I surprise her by getting up close. "Try to hit me now." I challenged. To that she tried to swipe my legs out from under me only for them to not move. "I'm a rather stable platform so knocking my legs out from under me requires a large amount of force." I teased her. "Oh yea?" She retorted before falling onto the bed dragging me with her. "How about now?" "Lets just get some sleep, we have lots of walking ahead of us tomorrow." I said as I rolled under the covers.

The first day in Paris was the stereotypical tourist stuff, you know visit all the tourist places see everything and what not. But the second day we went shopping for a nice dress for Gertrude as all she had were her uniforms and a traditional dress that Ursula had given her. That's how I found myself sitting outside the changing rooms waiting for her. "Stefan, I thought you hated shopping for clothes." A familiar voice spoke up behind me. "I do, Charles, but my girlfriend wants to have the perfect dress for tomorrow nights party." I shot back to my good friend as I leaned back and looked at him. "So, when will I meet this girlfriend of yours?" Charles asked. "Stefan, how does this look?" Gertrude asked coming out in a dress similar to Commander Minna's But in a midnight blue. She gave a quick twirl before noticing Charles. "Sir!" She said sudenly snapping to attention. Charles gave off a quick laugh before patting me on the shoulder. "She's a real beauty." He said before introducing himself. "I'm Charles de Gaulle, it's a pleasure to meet such a lovely lady, what might be your name madame?" He then took Gertrude's hand a kissed the back of it all gentilmanly. Gertrude blushed profusely before responding. "I'm Captain Gertrude Barkhorn of the 501st." She introduced herself. "Okay Charles. No need to pull out all the stops, she's taken and you know it." I said standing up from my seat. "I'm well aware of that fact. She's also far to young for me, but I can still be a gentilman and offer my assistance." Charles responded before stepping away from Gertrude. "And might I add you look stunning in that lovely dress." laying an arm around his neck I bring him down to my height. "Charles, I'm rather happy with what I have now. Don't ruin it please." I said to him. "And it looks beautiful on you Gertrude." I answered her original question. "Uh, Stefan, how did you two meet?" Gertrude asked. "Well I saved his ass from a Neuroi and killed it." I answered. "He really just pushed me out of the way of a beam before shooting it." Charles said. "He didn't know who l was until I thanked him." "Hey!" I said. "Look at the time." Charles said getting the hint. "I best be off, until we meet again, and Stefan, I have something of yours that was handed to me at the Ritz by someone." Charles then left us alone. "I have a few more dresses I'd like to try on, mind waiting." Gertrude said before disappearing behind the curtain again. I just groaned, this was taking longer than I thought.

We spent three hours, three fucking hours after her choosing a dress to pick out her mask for the party as it's a masquerade ball and what not. I chose a simple mask with some colourful purple flowers on the edges and a long white nose to match my black tuxedo. When we stepped outside after our whole day of shopping I spoke up. "Remind me to never take you shopping again." "Why's that? You loved it didn't you." Gertrude responded. "Well I cant complain about the view but the time, yes." I shot back. "Anyway, lets get something to eat. I'm starving." Gertrude said. "Yea, we probably should." I answered.

We slept like logs that night as I had exhausted myself and Gertrude usually sleeps like a log until something happens. "Where do you want to go for breakfast?" I asked her as we exited the lobby of the hotel. "How does Café de la Paix sound?" Gertrude asks back. "I'm fine with whatever, I'm just hungry." I answer. "Then we're going to the Café de la Paix." Gertrude said before grabbing my arm and dragging me along. We ate with vigor and payed before leaving. As we left Gertrude asked. "Do you think Yoshika's and Lynne's cooking is better than this place?" "Yep." I answered. "Can't beat Yoshika and Lynne even if they tried. Those two are culinary artists."

Around 2:00 we stumbled across a street boxing arena. "Gertrude, think I could make us some cash?" I asked my girlfriend as we approached. "You know I don't want any fighting on our days off." She responded. "But I'll let you cut loose today." "Hell Yea!" I shout before asking who's in charge of the ring. The man pointed me over to a man in a tuxedo and a bowler hat standing in the eastern corner of the ring. I walk up and tap him on the shoulder. "Excuse me sir, think I could get in on the fun?" I ask. "Ah, of course lad, how much you want to bet?" He asks back. "No, I think you misunderstood me. I don't wanna bet, I wanna be in there." I said pointing towards the two fighting men. "Sonny, you sure? Not many people come off the street looking for a fight." The guy said. "Well I'm doing it to blow off some steam. I'll take on the winner of this match." I said. "Alright, I'll put you down to fight him right after this, could I get your name?" He said. "Sure, name's Stefan Morrison." I said while shaking his hand.

The fight ended with a guy named Edwards being victorious for the fifth time. Shrugging off my shirt and handing it to Gertrude I say to her. "I'll be awhile, I'll toy with him and have some fun." I then stepped into the ring. The man in the tuxedo stepped into the middle. "Now we have our five times champion Edwards!" He said loudly causing the crowd to cheer. "Going up against Stefan Morrison!" The crowd cheered again before chanting "fight." Over and over again. Me and Edwards stood face to face. "Hope you're girlfriend will still like you with an eye missing." Edwards taunted causing me to laugh. "Ignorant fool. I'm here to end your win streak." I answered before we backed into our corners. "Match! Begin!" The guy in the tuxedo said.

Edwards charged at me. I just turned that speed against him by stepping out of the way and tripping him last minute. "You really aren't tough. I might aswell fight you with both arms tied behind my back." I said as I kicked him in the side causing him to roll over. "I was expecting more of a fight." This time he rolled away from my kick and stood up. "Mother fucker." He growled. "Come and get me." I said before he charged again this time swinging for my head. Ducking down I tackle him and send him sprawling. We both stand up and I swing first, striking him just below the chin and sending him flying. He stumbles back to a standing position and charges at me while swinging. I grab him fist and using his speed throw him over my back, smashing him into the floor at my feet. I let go and back off allowing him to get up. "Mother fucker! Stop toying with me!" Edwards shouts before he swings at me and tries to kick my knee cap in. I step side the kick and dodge the punch before landing my own blow on his body. I back off before quoting Muhammad Ali. "I am the greatest! I'm young; I'm handsome; I'm fast. I can't possibly be beat. They all must fall in the round I call. I should be a postage stamp. That's the only way I'll ever get licked. The heavy weight champion of the world should be pretty like me. It ain't bragging if you can back it up. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. I'm so mean, I make medicine sick. I shook up the world. Me! Whee!" Edwards then threw another punch trying to make me lose my balance. I continue to dance around his swings while landing my own blows. "Sit still so I can kill you!" Edwards shouted after I dragged the fight out this long. "Fine I'll stop toying with you." I said. "You're no fun anymore." "Fuck you!" Edwards shouted as he swung. I reach out and grab his fist before using his momentum against him flipping him over my shoulder again. He landed hard on his back before I dropped to one knee on his chest, knocking the wind out of him. I started to land quick and powerful blows to his face and chest, pummeling him.

"Give up?" I questioned him after he stopped trying to defend himself. "Y... yes." He groaned before I got off of him. "Oh my god! Edwards has lost to Stefan Morrison! Stefan Morrison wins the match!" The tuxedo guy anounces to the crowd while holding up my hand. "Thank you for allowing me to blow off some steam." I thank the man in the tuxedo before going to step out. "Any challengers! Anyone going to face Stefan Morrison!" The guy announces before I could leave the ring. "I only wanted to fight once." I said to the man. "Well you ended our old champions reign so you're our champion now. "So if anyone challenges me I have to fight them?" I ask. "Yes, But it seems no one wants to challenge you." He answers. "Good cause this fight was enjoyable but I do have a party this evening and I don't want to keep my host waiting." I said before finally leaving the ring.

"Here." Gertrude said handing me my shirt. "I never realized you had that much strength without using magic. Why do you never use it against any of the girls, I've seen you arm wrestle some of them and make it look like you're having trouble winning." "If I just beat the girls every time and I clearly overpowered them then they would get demoralized and wouldn't try again, which is no fun for anyone." I explained. "If it seems like I'm only slightly stronger than them they'll want to work harder to beat me." I finished buttoning up my shirt when I finished speaking. Looking at the time I realized something. "Hey, Gertrude." I said. "We only have an hour before the party." "Wait... WHA!" Gertrude then grabbed my arm and took off at a fast pace. "We have to shower and get dressed for the party." She said as she ran.

We made it to the party on time and were greeted by Charles. "Hello you two, you just made it on time." "Yea we know, Charles." I answered before the three of us walked through the door. "Rather nice place you have here, Charles. How's the booze?" I say upon looking around the giant ballroom. "You never change. Stop living in the moment and look to the future." He answered. "And I got the finest wine from the Closterman residence, sadly she couldn't attend today, I would have loved for you to meet her." "I know Perrine, I spent most of last year with her around." I answer. "Stefan and I both are in the same squadron as Perrine." Gertrude spoke up after marveling at the room for so long. "Well it's a small world." Charles said. "But now I have hostly duties to get to, so please enjoy the dance." "Of course, thanks for inviting us, I'll speak to you after the ball, Charles." I said as he left, turning to Gertrude I ask with a bow. "May I have this dance Mi'lady." "Of course, sir." Gertrude bows back before taking my offered hand.

We danced for a few hours before making our way to the drinks table. "Stefan, no taking an entire bottle of wine. You are our designated driver." Gertrude said. "I can drive with a couple bottles of vodka in my system. We'll be fine." I said brushing off her concern. She grabbed the bottle from my hand and poured herself a glass. "You will not drink tonight." She stated, emphasizing her point with a glare. "Okay, okay, I won't drink tonight." I said in fear of what she would do. Looking around I see that the party was still going strong. "I need a smoke break, not used to being outside of the office." "You mean off the battlefield." Gertrude said. "Go relax I'll be fine here." "Thanks, I'll be just outside the doors." I said before making my way outside.

The air was cool and crisp as I stepped outside and light a cigarette. I sighed as I looked up at the dark sky. I could see the stars poking through the clouds. Looking around I see no one else outside. Not even body guards, which was somewhat strange. "Good evening, Wing Commander Morrison. I wasn't expecting to see you here." A voice spoke up. "Who the fuck are you?" I asked it as I turned around. I spot a man who stood at about 5 foot 6 standing no more than three meters from me. He was holding a letter, the one I asked Major Sakamoto to toss out. "Think you can decline us this easily? You'll regret this, we will make you pay for your sins." He said before stepping back inside and disappearing into the crowd of people dancing. I was set on edge by the creepy guy but finished my smoke before returning to the dance and finding Gertrude where I left her. "Care for another dance, Mi'lady." I said while holding out my hand. "Of course, good sir." Gertrude said before we waltzed onto the dance floor again.

I watched as the last couple left the building and Charles closed the doors behind them. "Now that the party's over, I can give you you're book." Charles said as he walked past us. "A book?" I asked following him with Gertrude. "Yes, a book, that's atleast what I can guess from how it's wrapped." Charles said. "Alright, I'll open it and we can see inside." I said before we continued our walk in silence. We climbed up a couple spiral stair cases before he stopped infront of a plain oak door. "I left it in my study so it wouldn't be damaged while the party was going on." Charles explained as he unlocked and pushed open the door. "Thanks for holding onto it and taking such good care of it for me." I said as I stepped in behind him. We walked up to his desk while Gertrude looked around the room for a couple seconds. "Here you go Stefan, this is the package I received." Charles said as he held up what appeared to be a book covered in a thick brown paper. "Thanks." I said as I took it, I drew a small knife from one of my tuxedo pockets and cut the paper off to reveal a book. "The Godfather, by Mario Puzo." I read the title and author. "Never heard of it." Charles said. "What about you Madame?" He said gesturing to Gertrude. "Me neither." Gertrude answered him. "To Stefan Morrison, From... the names scratched out and covered with a black mark." I said after opening up the book. "Who ever sent it doesn't want us to know their name." Charles said. "Yea. They definitely don't want you to know who they are." Gertrude said. "Anyway, Stefan we should get going. We still have a long drive tomorrow." "Yea, I'm aware." I answered. "Anyway, thanks for having us Charles." "Of course, Stefan. Come back anytime." Charles said as he escorted us out.

It was about lunch time when Gertrude woke up. "Stefan? Where are we?" She asked as she rubbed sleep from her eyes. "We're on our way back to base. Candy?" I said before offering her some of the Ukrainian candy I had seen a few days early. I had bought some jars to take back to base with us as I enjoyed the candies. "Sure." Gertrude answers. "Better nor give any to Hartmann or you'll never hear the end of it." "I won't, they'll be locked up in my office, just like my liquor supplies." I said. "You probably should have done that in the first place." Gertrude said. "Well you didn't have to drink any and could have left the others to their drunken stupor." I shot back. We quickly descended into bickerings and teasing mostly done by myself.

Pulling my car into the hanger I look around and spot a shipping container and a Ju 57 transport aircraft. "It seems like Ursula's here." I groan. "Yea well you can just unpack and get some sleep. You slept less than me." Gertrude said as she got out of my car. "Wonder what's in the crate?" I asked. "Yea, but it's probably something for you to test or yours and Sanya's new equipment as you both broke or abandoned yours." Gertrude pointed out. "Don't remind me." I cringed. "Whaa! Vadim stop, heel, sit, stay!" I heard Yoshika shot from the hallways. I gave off a sharp whistle and Vadim came bounding to me covered in flour. "Vadim, I thought I said stay out of trouble." I said to him as he sat on the floor at my feet. He just barked while Yoshika and Lynne finally caught up. "I see you had your hands full with this little bugger." I said as they panted. "He got into a bag of flour and started running around. We tried to catch him but he was two fast." Lynne explained. "Seems like you two need to train more. I'll tell Major Sakamoto." I said while picking Vadim up by the scruff. "But for now this bugger needs a bath." "We came do that." Yoshika said. "Just don't let him run." I stated as I handed him off too them. "Come wake me if you need to… on second thought just asked Gertrude." I said before walking away.

I reached the room I shared with my two roommates and pushed the door open before fumbling with the buttons on my tunic and dress shirt but still getting them off, I draped them over the back of a chair and poured myself a glass of whiskey before bed. Tossing it back before stumbling into bed and flopping down and rolling under the covers to make sure I'd stay warm. "Hey Stefan, did you get me anything?" Erica asked. "No, now let me sleep, Erica. I'm tired." I mumbled before drifting into unconsciousness.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 21

[A/N] Sorry this took so long but I was out of the province for nearly two months in summer, and I'm still recovering from the sleep deprivation caused by the late nights and early mornings. As well as readjusting to normal life. I was off at a cadet camp staffing. Really it was fun all around but it was also tiring work, I did encounter some health problems in the last week from a previous injury that started acting up from all the walking. I got stuck with a cane for a few days and earned the nickname 'Sargent Grandpa' from my cadets.

I stepped out of my room after hearing the sounds of men running down the halls. Suddenly a large group of soldiers rushed past me. "What's happened?" I asked as I caught ahold of the Sargent. "There was an explosion at the western gate, only three men were injured but we need to repair the gate and secure the scene, sir." The Sargent answered. "Well get going and keep up the good work." I said as I waved him off. As soon as he left I closed the door and felt someone lean on me. "What was that about?" Gertrude asked sleepily. "Some freindly fire incident. I'll probably get a report about it later." I answered. "For now, you need your sleep and I need something to drink." Gertrude just murmured sleepily as I picked her up and set her back in bed. "Sleep tight." I whispered before heading to the table in the room and fishing my flask out of my inner tunic pocket. "Bottoms up." I muttered as I downed the last of the liquid in the flask before stumbling back into bed.

When I finally woke up I got dressed and stepped into the hallway, nearly bumping into Ursula. "Finally awake, I see." She commented. "Aye. Finally making something that won't try to kill me?" I asked. "Well the Me262 was tested by Captain Barkhorn, not you." Ursula said. "Guess who caught her on her first crash and caved in their skull." I said as I pointed at myself. "Fair point, but this shouldn't try to kill you." Ursula said. "I do need you to test the equipment before I leave and yes I brought Vickers K's to replace your old ones." "Good. So what am I testing this time?" I ask. "The P-40Q and the Vickers P canons." Ursula said. "Something that won't explode on me." I said as I walked with Ursula towards the mess hall. "Know what's for breakfast?" I asked. "No." Ursula answers. "You might be the only other one up." "Well then I'll make breakfast then. Hope you don't mind pancakes, bacon, toast and eggs." I said as we stepped in, it was empty for everyone but Sanya. "Morning Sanya." I greet her. "Morning Stefan." Sanya responds. "You want breakfast?" I asked. "Yes please." Sanya answers. "Alright." I answer before getting out all the supplies I would need. I quickly get the bacon sizzling and the eggs were made sunnyside up. I quickly made some coffee for any of the witches who actually drank coffee. "Say, Sanya, has Eila asked you-" I started to say before said witch appeared in the doorway cutting me off. "Sanya, you didn't come to bed after your sortie last night." Eila said as she enveloped Sanya in a hug. "So continuing with my question. Sanya has Eila reavealed her-" I tried to ask before Eila crosses the distance and covered my mouth with her hand before I could finish. "Ask that again and I'll make you regret asking it again." Eila whispered to me. "Nod if you understand." I nodded and she removed her hand. "Good, now what's for breakfast?" She asks. "Breakfast is bacon, pancakes, toast and eggs." I responded. "Coffee?" "No thanks." Eila said. "Only you, Barkhorn and Commander drink coffee." Eila then left the kitchen and went back to the table and sat beside Sanya. Finally the bacon was done so I removed it from the pan and started placing the pancake batter in. With that Gertrude finally stumbled in still half asleep and dragging Erica behind her. "Morning Gertrude, Morning Erica. Coffee?" I offered her a cup. She took it gratefully before sitting down. Everyone else filled in slowly afterwards. With Yoshika and Lynne coming in last. "Morning Yoshika, Morning Lynne." I greeted as they trailed in. "Sorry we got up late." Lynne said after I greeted her. "Sorry we couldn't help with breakfast. But we we're rushed to the medical ward as their were some injuries from the friendly fire incident early this morning." Yoshika explained. "Yea I was woken by the sounds of boots on the floor. I ask what happened and found out about it, Minna, either you or me will get the report on this incident." I say as I serve breakfast. "That reminds Morrison." Minna said. "I got transfer orders for you. You'll be spending about three months with the 502nd after a new operation that the high command just rolled out." "What's the name of the operation?" I ask. "Operation Blackcock." Momma answered to the snickers of Eila and Erica. "I remember reading about it. Of course the war ended not to long afterwards so it was one of the last operations." I said as I finished serving everyone. "And I heard Orussian has good vodka."

Shortly after breakfast Minna, Major Sakamoto and I were pouring over maps and aerial photos of what was known as the Roer Triangle which sat wedged between the Maas River, the Roer River and the towns of Roermond and Sittard in the Netherlands and the town of Heinsburg in Karlesland. "This will be tough, the need for air support over the town of Sint Odiliënberg and the bridging attemp over the creeks south of Susteren. That's just the opening hours. There is bound to be heavy Neuroi in this area." I explained as I pointed at each area. "Are they flying in any other witch squadron?" "None, we're on our own for this." Major says. "Fuck. Any counter attack would leave us hard pressed to repulse it until the troops link up." I say looking over the battlefield. "We currently have 14 witches in the squadron. Not inclouding Ursula as she is leaving once the tests are done." Minna says. "That means we can place five witches at two of the spearheads and four at another and have them react to the Neuroi as they deem fit." I said. "But it means we have no reserve units to reinforce any one." "We could put four witches on each spearhead and have three in reserve as stopgaps." Major suggests. "True. That would be a better idea if it weren't for the fact that it would weaken the spearhead which could cause a failure." I explained. "But yes we have the reserve to help plug gaps in the defence against the Neuroi." "Sorry I'm late." Heidemarie said before yawning. "Don't worry, you were on night patrol." Minna said. "Yea, I understand that everyone needs their sleep." I said. "Anyway, Minna your three dimensional space understanding allows you to spense all the Neuroi around you correct?" "Yes, it allows me to to know the size, altitude and location of the Neuroi." Minna responded. "Good, then we can have a night witch with the other groups to help with the detection and we can build the units around that." I said. "That's a good idea. Sanya works well with Eila as we all know so they will be placed in the same group." Minna said. "Major, anyone who you want to bring with you?" "Yoshika, Perrine and Lynne." Major said naming her three students. Minna then turned to me. "You Morrison?" "Well Gertrude and Erica and just about everyone else." I said. "You'd be fine working as the reserve force?" Minna asks. "Yea, don't know how well the new striker would work yet." I said. "Then test it out and we'll get back to this when you're done." Major says. "Alright. I'll be back shortly." I said before heading out.

Arriving in the hanger I looked around for Ursula. Spotting her over by the big container, I quickly walk over and stand behind her. "So what's today's tests?" I asked. "To make sure the striker is calibrated for the Vickers P cannons. And making sure the engine works." Ursula explained. "It's still experimental, though. Everything is experimental." "Sounds like my old job again." I commented before becoming sarcastic. "When do I start." "Well we still have to set up our monitors and such. Come back in about two hours or so." "Alright, I'll get back to planning the next operation." I said before heading back to Minna's office.

I quickly knock on the door and hear Minna say. "Come in." "Minna. It's me. It's going to take about two hours to set up the monitors for testing, might aswell finish the plan." I said. "We got orders from above and they actually said who to send and where to send them. It's out of our hands." Minna explained. "Damn..." I trailed before asking. "So what's the plan?" I asked. "You'll cover the centre thrust alongside Eila, Sanya, Perrine and Hattori." Minna explained. "That gives me some good cards. But I will need to be able to adapt to what the enemy throws at me. Being the centre means that's where the most enemy's usually are." I said. "I will be leading the northern pincer and Heidemarie will be leading the southern pincer. You're job is to help clear the air and ground of any Neuroi you can find. Is that clear?" Minna asked. "Crystal." I responded before asking. "Any paperwork you need me to do?" "Not at the moment, try seeing what needs to get done around base if you're bored." Mina says dismissing me. I quickly leave to find Yoshika and Lynne.

I find Yoshika and Lynne training as Major stands proudly watching as they struggle. "You've run them ragged yet?" I ask as I approach. "No, they're just training." She says before shouting at Yoshika and Lynne. "Keep running girls! You need physical strength as much as you need magical strength!" "Hai!" Yoshika yells back through pants. "Major is there anything that needs to be done around base that you know of?" I ask. "Not really, most I can think about is testing your new striker. How long until then?" Major asks back. "About..." I trail off as I check my watch. "Another hour and 50 minutes. I'm looking for a way to kill time. Any ideas?" "Well you could train with Miyafuji and Lynnette." Major said. "How many laps?" I asked. "Twenty laps before doing 50 push-ups and sit ups." Major answered. "They're on their fourth lap." "I'll join them, I think Vadim could use the exercise aswell." I said before giving off a sharpe whistle before the sounds of nails on polished wood was heard, then a skittering as Vadim tried to stop before we saw him slid into the hanger. "Vadim." I said holding up his leash. "We're going for a run." Vadim perked up at the last word and quickly made his way to me. I quickly attached the leash to his collar and took off running down the runway with Vadim by my side. After the twentieth lap I saw Ursula waiting beside the Major. "Stefan, we're ready for the test flights." She said as I slowed to a stop beside her. "Alright, hopefully no explosions." I commented as we walked back towards the hanger.

The engine sounded rather normal as I started it up, no loud booms or clanks that usually resulted from Ursula's experiments. "The engine output is normal, you may take off Stefan!" Ursula shouted at me over the sound of the spinning prop. I nodded to signal that I heard her, as my hands were full with the new Vickers P canons. I quickly take off and to a few fancy manoeuvres to see how well she handles, which was even better than my old model. "Ursula." I spoke into the radio. "It seems to be very manoeuvrable and has some good speed." "That's good, next head towards the south, you should find a big paper target, try to land hits on it so we can calibrate the striker to the guns. Of course you can only carry the two Vickers P canons or the Vicker K machine guns at one time. You must chose between them." Ursula explained as I flew south looking for the target. "Why can't I also carry my Vickers K guns aswell?" I asked. "Because the weight of the Vickers P is heavier and as such makes it hard for anyone to carry all of them at once." Ursula explained. "Okay, makes sense, now I've spotted the target, now what?" I asked. "Make sure you pull the trigger for both guns at the same time, otherwise you could be knocked out of the sky by the recoil." Ursula said. "Roger." I said before rolling in to attack the stationary target. I squeezed the trigger a few times and saw big clouds of dirt thrown up where the 47mm shell impacted the cliff. "Jeez, this thing packs a punch." I commented. "Of course it does, it's a 47mm AP round." Ursula responded. "Anyway, come back to base we need to adjust a few things." "Got it." I said before turning back to base.


	23. Chapter 22 (05-07 19:32:35)

Chapter 22

After the multiple test flights and a handful of crashes due to the calibration, I was allowed to officially take the equipment. "Finally." I huffed as I signed the last bit of paperwork related to my striker and new guns. "Now to get some sleep." I muttered as I looked at the clock. It read 11:01pm. I cracked my neck and elbows before standing and cracking my knees. I half stumbled back to my room and flopped down onto the bed after a glass of whiskey.

It had been a couple days since I had received my new striker and D-day was fast approaching, it was a couple days off still but the base was tense, you could see it in everyone's eyes, the day we finally march back into Karlesland. I sat at my desk twirling a pencil between my fingers and staring up at the ceiling. The same thing I've been doing for the past week or so. I glanced over at the calendar hung up in my office. "12 of January." I muttered. "Only two more days." I looked into the hallway to see if anyone had decided to come find me as I usually was somewhat hidden away. The only living being in the hallway was Vadim who was pacing up and down out of sheer boredom. "Fuck it." I said as I left my chair. "Vadim, lets go for a walk." I quickly retrieved his leash and clipped it to his collar as he can walking into my office.

"Stefan, you finally left your office!" Yoshika called as I walked past her and Lynne hanging up laundry. "Yea, it was boring just sitting in a chair and staring at the ceiling." I said as I walked over to speak with them. "It's times like these that I wish there was some activity." "Careful what you wish for." Lynne warned me. "You never know what's going to happen." "I just jinxed us, didn't I?" I asked as Vadim decided to seek out the attention he craved. "Yes, I guess you did." Lynne said. "Ah well." I said with a shrug. "What's the worst that could happen." "You did it again Stefan." Yoshika said. "Damn, today is not my lucky day." I responded before we all laughed abit. It was nice to see some of the girls in high spirits.

I rolled out of bed and groggily checked the calendar. It read the 14 of January. "Gertrude." I said as I poked her shoulder only for her to roll over. "Gertrude. It's D-Day." I said again hoping it would wake her. "What!" Gertrude shot up. "It's January 14 the operation is later today. Our job is to make sure no enemy bombers get in aswell as taking out any major ground threat." I said as I tossed her, her cloths and stepped across the room to wake Erica. "Erica, get up." I said as I threw a book near her head. "40 more minutes." I heard her mutter. "Up now or I'll open fire." I said. "20 minutes then." She bargained in her sleep. I quickly signaled to Gertrude to toss me my Webley. She shakes her head but tosses it to me anyway. "Erica you have 10 seconds to get up or I'll shot." I threatened again. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." I cocked the hammer and pointed the revolver towards the open window before squeezing the trigger. The sound of the .455 caliber round being fired off startled both Gertrude and Erica as both jumped followed shortly by Shirley kicking down the door. "What's wrong!" She shouts upon entry. "I was just waking Erica." I reassured her as I lowered my Webley. "Did you really have to wake the whole base like that." Shirley complained as Erica finally recovered from the loud noise. "Anyway. Everyone get dressed and to the briefing room before breakfast." I ordered.

Everyone minus Minna was seated in the briefing room as I set up the projector and the maps and images. Everyone was chatting and wondering what was going on, then it all went silent as I finished setting up the projector and Minna walked in. "Everything is set Minna." I said as I stepped to the side allowing her to walk right by. "Thank you." She said before coming to a stop infront of the room and off to the left of the screen. "As you are all aware we have been chosen to aide in the operation to liberate the Roer Triangle. Command just issued some change in our orders." Mio then changed the slide to the map of the assault. "Leading the Center thrust is now myself with Miyafuji, Eila, Sanya and Lynne." Minna said while using a stick to point at the Center thrust. "Leading the Southern thrust is Heidemarie along with Trude, Erica and Perrine. That means Stefan you are leading the Northern thrust with Sargent Hattori, Shirley, Lucchini and Captain Jantzen." "Not the first time command has changed plans last minute." I said. "Yea. They do, do that a lot." Jantzen said as she leaned against the wall beside me. "We leave at 1400 hours." Minna ordered. "Until then you will all be on standby."

"Ugh, I'm bored." I groaned as I layer my head down on the table as Yoshika and Lynne were playing a card game while Lucchini and Shirley were doing whatever they normally do. "I agree." Olivia said as she leaned back in her chair. "Yea, the whole war was written as if everything happened right after another ignoring all the time inbetween the major battles and any skirmish." I said as I lifted up my head from the table. "We need to find something to do between the paperwork and well actually fighting. Yoshika and Lynne play cards, Shirley relaxes while Lucchini groped her and sleeps, Major trains, Perrine is either with Yoshika and Lynne or watching the Major, Sanya sleeps while Eila watches over her, Heidemarie is normally lonesome, and Minna is almost always busy with paperwork." I said. "Well you drink and smoke, anything else? And you forgot Hattori, Barkhorn and Hartmann." Olivia says says. "Right, I usually am stuck doing paperwork but since I finished all mine and I am being transferred after this mission for three months in Orussia to aid the 502nd as they help the allies force their way towards the Berlin hive." I said while stretching. "And Gertrude is usually bugging Erica to get out of bed while Hattori continues to train under Major." "Hattori! Care to join us in a game?" Yoshika called as Hattori passed the dinning room door. "Uh, no thank you pilot office Miyafuji, I have to get ready for the battle." Hattori turned her down. "I'll join you Yoshika." I said. "What are you playing?" "Well Erica taught me it, she calls it blackjack." Yoshika said. "We'll deal me in and what's the betting pool like?" I asked. "Betting pool?" Yoshika questioned. "Uh, Stefan we aren't betting anything." Lynne said. "Ah well. I'll still join. It's not like I have anything else to do." I said. "I'll join as well." Olivia said as Yoshika dealt us in. 'An ace and a Queen.' I thought as I looked at the cards that were flipped over. Lynne had a 7 Olivia had a 9 and Yoshika had a 4. "Hit." Lynne said as she was dealt the card. "Hit." She said again. "Stay." She said passing it to me. "Stay." I said passing it to Olivia. "Hit." Oliva said. "Stay." "Hit." Yoshika said while taking a card from the top of the deck. "Hit." And another card she drew. "Stay." I flipped over the ace and said. "21." "25." Olivia said. "16." Yoshika said. "19." Lynne said. The game continued for awhile until Yoshika and Lynne excused themselves to make lunch for everyone.

After lunch everyone was gathered in the hanger. "So, who's ready for the operation?" I asked as we all stood in our strikers.

A/N: I have lost interest in continuing this story for the time being. I may come back to it in the future to continue this series or just rewrite it all.

Apologies.


End file.
